A 26-year-old woman was found dead inside a locked flat in Baranagar, in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, late on Tuesday night, and police are treating the death as a suspected murder, news agency IANS reported on Wednesday, November 11.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The woman, identified in the reporting as Anjali Sau, was found lying on the floor of a fifth-floor flat in the Lake Palli area with visible injury marks on her body. Personnel from Baranagar police station broke open the locked door after neighbours raised an alarm when she stopped responding, IANS and Nation Press reported.

Source: Nation Press

According to police accounts carried in the reports, the flat belongs to the woman's brother-in-law, who had been living there with her sister for about four years before the couple recently moved to Serampore in Hooghly district for work. Before leaving on Monday, he handed the flat's key to a neighbour; the woman collected the key and entered the flat on Tuesday afternoon. When her sister could not reach her later that afternoon, neighbours were asked to check, repeated knocks went unanswered, and the police were alerted.

Source: Nation Press

The Hindu, reporting the same case on Wednesday, said police suspect the woman may have been sexually assaulted. That suspicion has not been confirmed by any official finding, and IANS reporting said investigators have not ruled out murder while awaiting medical evidence. No arrest or named suspect has been reported so far.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The body was first taken to Baranagar State General Hospital and then sent for a post-mortem examination, whose report is expected to establish the cause of death. Police said they are reviewing CCTV footage from cameras in and around Lake Palli and questioning neighbours and other residents as the investigation continues.

Source: Nation Press