Jamshedpur, July 24: The woman, who was allegedly molested by unknown youths along the Bistupur-Jugsalai road late last night, has gone missing.

The victim, in her late 30?s, had come to the city three days ago and used to earn her living through begging.

She was seen by an autorickshaw driver and some roadside vendors till last night, but after the incident, no one saw her in the morning.

?I saw her before closing shutters on my shop for the day around 9 pm. This morning, when I came to know about the incident, I tried to locate the woman, but she had gone missing,? said one of the vendors, adding that she might have left the place out of fear.

An autorickshaw driver who ferries passengers between Bistupur and Adityapur had also seen the woman till last night.

?The woman used to spend night in the bus stand. Probably, the youths had spotted her sitting alone and misbehaved with her. As the place is almost deserted and nobody frequents it at night, there is every possibility of someone taking advantage of the woman?s situation,? he added.

The autorickshaw driver also trashed the claims made by the police that the woman was mentally unsound.

?It?s true that the behaviour of the woman was a bit abnormal and she used to speak at high pitch. But she was definitely in sound state of mind. The police are trying to hush up the case by claiming that the woman was mentally unsound,? he added.

Officer-in-charge of Bistupur police station B.B. Tirkey, however, was not ready to accept the victim was normal.

?It was about 12.30 in the night when a truck driver informed the police station about the incident. Immediately, a group of officers rushed to rescue the woman. I went to the spot and found the woman crying for help. But she could not tell us much about the incident,? said Tirkey. The woman was lying in the shrubs and was shocked when the police spotted her, Tirkey added.

After she was informed that police has reached to help her, the woman started speaking.

?In spite of all our efforts, she was not able to give much information about the youths. Her behaviour was also not normal and said something which was not giving us any lead,? he said.

He said it was because of her unsound state of mind that they were not able to register a case of molestation.

?Had the girl been mentally stable, we would have lodged an FIR and tried to find those involved in the crime,? he added.

He even assured that if someone spoke on behalf of the victim and gave information about the suspects, the police could also initiate the investigation.

?The police are helpless till they get some concrete information about the youths and other facts such as whether they had come to the spot in any vehicle,? he added.