A 32-year-old woman was allegedly kidnapped, gang-raped and strangled in the Malihabad area here, police said on Thursday.

The woman, who resided in Ayodhya, was en route to her brother's house in Chinhat after returning from a job interview in Varanasi.

According to her family, she hired an autorickshaw from Alambagh in the early hours of Wednesday, but the driver took her to Malihabad.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)-Crime Kamlesh Kumar Dixit said, "The woman's brother reported her missing around 4 am on Wednesday. She had shared her live location with her brother, expressing suspicion that the autorickshaw driver was taking her on an incorrect route."

When her last location was near Malihabad, her family reported the issue on 112, an emergency service number, after which the local police station formed teams and started searching for the woman.

"She was found unconscious in a mango orchard near Mohammad Nagar Talukdari in Malihabad," said the DCP.

The woman was rushed to King George's Medical University but was pronounced dead by doctors.

Police said a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against unidentified individuals, as prima facie, it appeared that multiple persons were involved in the crime.

Three police teams are investigating the case.

Even as the hunt is on to arrest the accused, seven police personnel, including a Station House Officer (SHO), were suspended on Thursday for dereliction of duty, said the DCP.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.