Lucknow: A 25-year-old woman from Unnao was found murdered near the Kisan Path underpass in Dubagga on Saturday night, barely hours after she left her sister’s house, saying she was heading home.
Locals spotted the body along the Kisan Path service lane and alerted police around 9.30pm.
ACP Shakeel Ahmad said the woman was wearing a burqa when she was found. Police suspect murder, but officials said conclusions would depend on forensic and post-mortem findings. The deceased, identified as Asiya alias Tina, a resident of Safipur in Unnao, was found dead near the Saidpur village underpass. A bag recovered near the body contained her Aadhaar and PAN cards, along with a handwritten note carrying the names of four men and a four-digit number. Police have not disclosed the names and are examining whether the details have any connection with the murder. Dubagga police registered an FIR on a complaint lodged by her elder sister, Nasreen Bano. A case has been registered against unidentified persons under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to murder and destruction of evidence. Police are now reconstructing her movements between the time she left her sister’s house and when her body was discovered. CCTV footage from routes linking Unnao and Lucknow is being examined, while investigators are also scrutinising her personal contacts and the handwritten note recovered from her belongings.
On Saturday, around 12.30pm, she left, saying she was returning to Safipur, but never reached her destination. Preliminary examination revealed injury marks on her face. The exact cause of death will be confirmed after the post-mortem examination.
Asiya had been staying with her sister in Nawabganj, Unnao, for nearly a month, according to family members. Investigators suspect she was strangled before her body was dumped at the spot. The family later learnt that her body had been found in Lucknow.