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A week later, the Surat Rural Police still have no solid leads in the case – except that a couple was “questioned on suspicion”. By Monday, the police collected 900 fingerprint samples, trying to match them with prints found around the house with those of villagers, but in vain. The village sarpanch has announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone – underlining that their identity would be concealed – who provides leads on the accused.

The farmer last spoke to his daughter around 9:30 pm on August 23, asking her to keep the doors and windows closed and her mobile phone ringer on. On August 21, he and his wife left on a pilgrimage and returned in the early hours on August 24. They rang the doorbell repeatedly. but got no response. The door was locked from inside and their daughter was not answering her phone.

She had been alone the whole of August 23, after her aunt, who visited on August 22 with her husband and 24-year-old son, from Surat, left. According to the FIR, she left because of “some health issues”.

The farmer spoke to his daughter on the afternoon of August 23 after his sister left and then again on the night of August 24. A senior police officer said, “We are sure that the culprits behind the incident are known to the woman and her family members. After killing her on the ground floor, the accused lifted her body, took it to the terrace, tied both her hands and put a polythene bag over her face. We found some fingerprints in different places of the house. After the incident, we have taken statements from around 85 people known to the deceased’s family, including her friends. We have also taken fingerprints from 900 people in the village to match them with those found at the scene, but none matched. It has been confirmed that there was no rape committed against the victim, but there are signs of sexual assault.”

The officer said, “There are no CCTVs outside the house and those of neighbours. We have got details of the phones from the area through a nearby mobile tower. We are retrieving data from her mobile phone, which was found submerged in a water pit. We have questioned a couple who is under suspicion.”

According to the FIR, the farmer found the “rear door of the house ajar”. “I entered the room and found household items lying on the floor. After crossing the kitchen, I reached the front room and opened the main door of our house so that my wife, waiting outside, could enter. We both called our daughter’s name, but there was no response from any of the rooms. We checked each and every corner of the house, but to no avail. The almirah doors were found open and several items were lying on the floor. Cash and jewellery worth around Rs 2.50 lakh were missing”, the FIR said.

The couple then went to a neighbour’s house and woke them for help. The neighbour accompanied them and the trio went to the terrace of the house, which has a small cabin. Outside the cabin door, the couple found their daughter in her night dress, her hands tied with black string, her face covered with a polythene bag, a mobile charging wire, and another string wrapped around her neck. The parents informed the police.

A police team, along with a dog squad and forensic officials reached the spot, and sent the body for postmortem examination. The farmer filed a complaint of murder and robbery against unidentified persons at the local police station. Surat District Superintendent of Police Rajesh Gadhiya also reached the spot after being informed.

Three days after the incident, the police found the mobile phone of the deceased in the backyard of the house, submerged in water. The family members initially refused to accept the body, demanding arrest of the accused. Later, the village elders intervened and persuaded them.

On Sunday, members of the tribal community to which the woman and her family belong announced that if the culprits were not arrested, they would launch protests.

Surat’s Superintendent of Police Rajesh Gadhiya assured them that police were making all possible efforts to catch the culprits. The village sarpanch said, “We have seen her right from her younger days. She was a studious child. Our village population is around 4,000, and the major occupation of the people is agriculture and animal husbandry.”

She added, “The announcement about the reward money has been posted on social media so that people from other villages can also know about it. We did so in coordination with the Surat Police.”