The charred body of a woman was found in a forested area in Balangir district on Wednesday.

Circumstantial evidence suggest the woman might have been raped before being set on fire.

Her body and face was charred. Locals suspect that the criminals burnt the body to erase evidence. The incident took place in Dumerpita village in Balangir district in western Odisha

It is yet to be ascertained when the incident took place. The body was found by two boys who had taken their goats inside the forest where they spotted the body. The body was almost decomposed. A shawl and her broken bangles were found near the body, sources said.

Inspector of Deogaon police station Bulu Munda told The Telegraph: “We seized the body and sent it for postmortem. The victim was around 25 to 30 years. Only after getting the post mortem report, we can make any comments on the issue.”