Prayagraj : In a twist to a three-year-old missing person case, police have reopened the investigation after a 28-year-old married woman, presumed dead and cremated by her family in 2023, was apparently traced to Gujarat earlier this week.
During counselling, she reportedly revealed details about her home in the Lalganj area of Nawabganj.
SHO Pankaj Awasthi said a police team and the woman’s family members had gone to Vadodara to gather details and facilitate her return. The family had also lodged a complaint accusing three persons of eloping with the woman. However, police later filed a final report in the case. The case resurfaced when Nawabganj police received information from a Gujarat-based NGO that a woman from Prayagraj had been rescued near Vadodara railway station in a mentally unstable condition. After verifying the information with her family, a police team accompanied by relatives left for Vadodara to bring her back. The development stunned family members and police alike, prompting authorities to launch a fresh probe into the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and her stay away from home for nearly three years. He added that investigators would examine all aspects of the case, including how she went missing and how she was eventually traced in Gujarat.
The woman had gone missing from the Nawabganj area in May 2023. Convinced that it was their daughter, the family performed her last rites in Oct 2023. Months later, an unidentified woman’s body bearing similarities such as a tattoo, nose pin and burn marks was found in Gorakhpur.