Kochi: Kalady Police have launched a probe into the mysterious death of a 19-year-old girl who was found dead with severe head injuries in Malayattoor. Her boyfriend, Alan (21), a native of Kottamam, Kalady, is currently in police preventive custody. Chithrapriya, daughter of Shaiju and Shini of Thuruthiparambil, Mundangamattam had been missing since Saturday night. She was found dead on abandoned land on Tuesday evening. It is alleged that Alan murdered her.

The autopsy of Chithrapriya will be conducted at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, on Wednesday.

Kalady Police have registered a case under Section 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. According to the FIR, Alan allegedly dumped Chithrapriya’s body on an abandoned land at Sebiyoor in Malayattoor. Police took him into preventive custody around 9.30 pm on Tuesday after assessing the possibility of an attack against him from the girl’s family and concerns over potential law and order issues.

Meanwhile, CCTV visuals have surfaced showing the girl travelling with Alan on a bike.

Sources close to the investigation said Alan, who was intoxicated at the time, killed the girl following a quarrel. He reportedly told police that he argued with Chithrapriya after suspecting her of having an affair with someone else. It is suspected that he attacked her with a stone. An official police statement on Alan’s confession is awaited.

Chithrapriya, an aviation degree student in Bengaluru, had left home on Saturday, saying she was going to a nearby shop, but did not return. Her parents later filed a missing-person complaint with Kalady Police, prompting a search operation.

Police are also analysing the woman’s mobile phone and other digital evidence to trace her movements before her death.