The body of a young woman, identified as Sheetal alias Simmi, was recovered from a canal in the Kharkhoda area of Haryana’s Sonipat district late on Sunday. Police said she had been reported missing two days earlier after she left her Panipat residence for a music video shoot and did not return.

Sheetal had been working in the Haryana music industry for the past six months. Before that, she was reportedly employed at a hotel in Karnal. She lived in Panipat with her sister, Neha, reported Hindustan Times.

“Police received information that the body of a young woman was found in the canal who was later identified as Sheetal. A police complaint was registered in Panipat regarding her going missing. A postmortem will be done and further investigations are on,” ACP Kharkhoda, Sonipat, Jeet Singh told reporters.

A police official from Sonipat said that a car was also found in the canal. It allegedly belonged to a man from Istana village in Panipat, who swam to safety.

“Preliminary investigations suggest that the woman was in this car with the man. We cannot rule out the possibility of murder, as the body shows signs of injury. The family has also made certain allegations. We are awaiting the postmortem report and will soon apprehend the man for questioning,” the official said.

A Panipat police official confirmed that a missing person FIR had been registered and said they were waiting for the postmortem report from Sonipat. “Once we receive the report, we will know the cause of death. So far, in the FIR, a missing person complaint has been registered and now the body has been recovered from the canal,” he said.

Neha, Sheetal’s sister, said her sister had called her on the night of June 14 to say she had been assaulted.

“She also told me that Sunil was mounting pressure on her to go with him. Thereafter, her phone disconnected and she was unreachable,” Neha said, reported Hindustan Times.

She added, “On Sunday, Sunil’s car slipped into a canal in Delhi and he was taken out by the passerby but my sister was not in the car. We suspect that Sunil killed my sister and he is concocting a false story. He is undergoing treatment in a hospital in Panipat.”

According to her, Sheetal had met Sunil while working at his hotel in Karnal. “Sunil mounted pressure on her to get married. But Sheetal later came to know that Sunil was already married and father of two kids.”

“Sheetal left the job but the hotel owner continued to chase her,” Neha said.

Police are verifying the family's statements. An investigation is underway.