Dharmapuri: Missing girl found dead, cops foil cremation bid of relatives

DHARMAPURI: The Dharmapuri district police suspect the death of a missing girl to be a case of murder, as her relatives allegedly hushed up the issue and planned to cremate her body without informing the police.

On Friday, police went to Perusa Goundanpatti village in Krihnapuram police limits following information about the relatives planning to burn the dead body of a 14-year-old missing girl V. Lakshmi, and stopped it. Lakshmi's relatives searched for her after the girl did not return home from the school. But on Friday, they found her body was found floating in a river beneath a bridge in Murugampatti village in the district.

The girl’s body was fished out by her relatives and the relatives apparently planned to cremate the dead body without informing the police. Meanwhile, Krishnapuram police recovered her dead body and it was sent to the Dharmapuri government medical college and hospital mortuary for autopsy. Probe is on to find whether it was a case of homicide or suicide, or whether she met with death accidentally while playing in water.