A 22-year-old physically challenged village volunteer was found burnt to death near a pond at Dasarajupalli road in Prakasam district on Friday night. The deceased was identified as Ummaneni Bhuvaneswari (22), a resident of the Kammapalem area on the outskirts of Ongole town.
The woman was also pursuing her MBA from Narayana University while working as a village volunteer.
Ongole taluk CI Sivaramakrishna Reddy said a security guard of SIMS hospital informed the police about the incident at around 8 pm. By the time police reached the spot, the woman was found seated in a handicapped tricycle, charred to death. Her handbag was found lying beside the tricycle, which contained her Aadhaar card and mobile phone. Cops checked the crime scene thoroughly but could not find any petrol can or other flammable liquid in the immediate vicinity.
Bhuvaneswari’s mother Janaki told the police her daughter last spoke to her at 6.49 pm, and told her she would reach home in half an hour’s time. When she didn’t return by 7.30 pm, Janaki frantically tried to reach her but her phone was switched off.
“Her body was found confined to the tricycle but her hands were not tied. There are also no signs of any movement while she was getting burnt. It looks like a case of murder. There are chances that she was first killed and later set ablaze,” a police official told TOI.
After checking her phone, cops found that she had WhatsApped a
message to all her contacts at around 7 pm, saying “My WhatsApp won’t work any more… please don’t try to meet me any more.”
