Police personnel at the house of the deceased woman in Berhampur. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Aug. 22: A 40-year-old woman, who was the owner of a tailoring and sewing training centre in Gate Bazar here, was found murdered at her rented accommodation on Thursday night.

“The victim, Sobharani Patra, seemed to have been strangled to death with bed sheets. Her half-naked dead body was lying in her bedroom. There was no other sign of injury on her body,” said P.K. Patnaik, sub-divisional police officer, Berhampur.

Sobharani was a divorcee and was living in with Pratap Chandra Padhy at a three-storey rented house in ORT Colony Square for the past nine months.

“My daughter was married in Kotpad, but was staying alone in Berhampur for the past 25 years after she divorced her husband,” said Shyam Sunder Patra, 82-year-old father of the victim.

“She was in a relationship with Pratap Chandra Padhy, who runs an NGO. Pratap frequently visited her house and living in with her for nine years,” the police said.

Padhy said that he left the house of Sobharani at 7pm after having tea and returned at 10pm to have dinner. “The front door to the house was not bolted from inside. I knocked the door and when there was no reply, I pushed it open. When I entered the house she was lying in the space between the bed and a steel almirah. She was in a semi-naked state. I informed the police immediately,” Pratap said. “Two gold chains and two gold rings weighting about two tolas, that she was wearing, had gone missing. Somebody must have entered the house and killed her to loot the gold ornaments,” he said.

However, the steel almirah in the bedroom was intact. “Two gold bangles and two silver paunji on legs were also untouched by the murderer. The mobile phone of Sobharani is missing,” Pratap said.

Professor Sachi Mahanty, head of forensic department, said: “We have sent the sample for viscera test to ascertain the exact cause of death. Police had sent the body for post-mortem today later handed it over to her father.