The body of a 27-year-old tribal woman with injury marks on her chest, neck and back was recovered from an under-construction house at Murwe under the Burmu police station, around 20km from the city, on Thursday.

Basanti Kerketta’s body was noticed by a villager grazing his cattle near the house around 7.30 in the morning.

Police have registered a murder case and sent the body for autopsy at RIMS.

A police officer said Basanti, who got married to mason Ganeshwar Munda two years ago, told her husband she was going to her parent’s house at Mucca, around 5km away, before stepping out on the evening of February 18.

“The place from where the body was recovered is hardly 1km from her house,” a police official added.

Officer-in-charge of Burmu police station, Sidheshwar Mahatha, said preliminary investigation suggests that an extra-marital affair was the reason behind the murder.

“The woman had intermediate-level qualification and had also undergone skill-development training. She was in search of a job and went away from home on the pretext of job-hunt. She may have developed an extra-marital affair and was mounting pressure on the person for marriage. The man might have called her for a secret meeting and killed her,” Mahatha said.

On whether any weapon was used in the murder, he said: “It seems the woman was strangled. She must have sustained injuries while struggling with the killer.”