Birthday call, objectionable video, locked room: MBA student found dead in naked state, strangled with rope

INDORE: In a disturbing incident, a 24-year-old MBA student was found dead in a nude state inside her male colleague's rented room in Indore on Friday, three days after she went missing.

Police said the room belonged to her classmate, a resident of Mandsaur, who had taken it on rent. Both were pursuing MBA from an institute from Indore and were in a relationship. The youth, missing since the incident came to light, was reported absconding.

DCP Krishna Lalchandani said the matter surfaced after a neighbour complained of foul smell emanating from the rented room, which was locked from outside. A team from Dwarkapuri police reached the spot and broke open the door to find the woman lying lifeless and nude on the bed.

"There were signs of struggle and, prima facie, it appeared that she was strangulated with a rope," the DCP said.

"The girl had been missing since February 10. She had gone to the collectorate to get her birth certificate rectified. Her father left after dropping her off at the collectorate. From there, she called up her younger sister, saying she was going to attend a birthday party and would return by 11 pm. She never came back and her phone was found switched off thereafter," DCP Lalchandani added.

He said her family members searched for her through the night before filing a missing person's case in the morning at Pandarinath police station.

The same night an objectionable video was posted on the college's official WhatsApp group from her mobile phone. In the clip, the youth's face was covered with an emoji while the victim's face was clearly visible. College authorities deleted the video and called her father the next day, informing him that the phones of both the students were switched off. The family, then, approached the police before a missing person's complaint was registered in the wee hours.

Her family alleged that the accused used her phone to upload the video on her profile status and also sent it to people in her contact list. Relatives alleged that police failed to act promptly despite repeated requests and continued searching through February 12 without meaningful progress.

They claimed that a constable visited the youth's rented room but returned after finding it locked from outside, informing the landlord to alert police if anyone arrived. "Since the girl went missing from the collectorate area, a missing complaint was filed at Pandarinath. The family members may have accompanied the constable to the youth's rented room but since it was locked from outside and police did not have any proof, it was not broken open," Lalchandani said.

Meanwhile, her family reiterated that it was the absconding suspect, who circulated objectionable videos from the victim's phone.

The youth's father runs a grocery shop in Mandsaur, while the former had been living in Indore for studies. Police said searches were underway to trace the absconding suspect, while the victim's post-mortem report was awaited to ascertain the exact cause of death.