Woman found dead on railway track in Kochi; murder suspected

Kochi: A young woman was found dead on a railway track in Kochi's Vytilla on Tuesday morning. The deceased is Kottayam Chingavanam native Sudha. Police suspect that she was murdered as the body was found on a railway track that is not currently in use.

Preliminary evidence raised suspicion that the woman was killed elsewhere and her body was later dumped on the track beneath the Vytilla railway overbridge to stage the scene as a railway accident or suicide. However, the perpetrators might not have realised that the particular track, lying close to the Ernakulam-Kottayam rail line, was inactive.

The body was found early Tuesday morning by a locopilot of one of the trains that passed by, and he immediately alerted the police. Maradu police reached the spot shortly and cordoned off the area. The lack of typical high-impact injuries associated with a train collision, combined with the state of the scene, strongly suggests the victim was moved or dropped at the location after her death.

“The body was placed on an abandoned track that is not in use now. It is close to the bushes. Prima facie it does not look like she has jumped off the railway overbridge or she was hit by a train. Whoever dumped the body on the track might have tried to make it look like she was rammed by the train. Inquest formalities are underway. We have launched an investigation,” said police sources.

The police are currently checking the CCTV footage from all roads and access points leading to the railway vicinity, looking for suspicious vehicles or individual movements during the late-night and early-morning hours. Simultaneously, they are also checking into missing person cases as the victim’s identity has not been confirmed yet.

“Only after the autopsy, we can confirm the cause of death. Forensic experts are at the spot,” said police.