Berhampur, Aug. 4: A 17-year-old college girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered at Humuri Dharasaranpur village in Ganjam.

The body of the victim, who was an orphan and was living with her aunt after her parents passed away, was found near a stone quarry on Sunday. The assailants had crushed her head and face with a boulder.

Preliminary police investigation confirmed that the victim had been gang-raped. The girl was pursuing Plus Two course at Khandadeuli College.

The police recovered her body near a stone quarry at Benigohiri on Sunday afternoon. They also found a blood-stained boulder lying near the spot.

The victim and her aunt had gone to paddy fields at Benigohiri near Humuri Dharmasaranpur.

“She returned home a few hours later to prepare food for the night. When I returned home in the evening, I found the door was locked. I could not trace her,” said the victim’s aunt. “The villagers, too, searched her at many places. Some villagers even searched a pond where she used to take bath. But they could not trace her,” she said.

Later in the afternoon, two boys spotted the body near the stone quarry and informed the villagers. Her clothes were lying near the body. The victim’s aunt identified the girl.

Later, Chhatrapur sub-divisional police officer Alekh Chandra Pahi and inspector in charge of Ganjam police station Bichitrananda Samal reached the spot with scientific team. “We have found no clue so far. Two to three persons seemed to be involved in the incident. She might have been gang-raped near the place where the body was found,” said Pahi.