Bar dancer found strangled at home, cops suspect lover

A 21-year-old woman was found murdered in her house at Jayfalwadi, Tardeo yesterday. The victim, identified as Sunita, was a dancer and used to work in bars. The Tardeo police suspect a youth identified as Radhe, with whom she was in a relationship. He has been missing since the murder, cops said.

According to the police, Sunita, a divorcee, was staying at a rented room at Jayfalwadi for the past six months. She had paid a security deposit of Rs 20,000 for the room. She had recently been to Gorakhpur. A few months ago, she started seeing Radhe.

He had been living with her at the same location for the past eight days, cops said. As per a police source, Radhe called up Sunita's friend, another bar dancer, and asked her to visit Sunita's house in Tardeo. He told her he was out of town and Sunita was not responding to his calls.

The friend found the door to Sunita's rented house locked. Concerned, she informed the Tardeo police who broke open the door to find Sunita's dead body on the bed. After preliminary investigations, the police found out that Sunita had been strangled to death. Cops said there was no sign of a forced entry and none of her valuables were missing. "Prima facie, it seems to be a planned murder," an official said.

After recording the statement of Sunita's friend, the Tardeo police have begun a manhunt for Radhe. Since Sunita's murder, Radhe's phone has been switched off and he has disappeared, making him a prime suspect in the case, an official from the police station said. Her body has been sent for post-mortem to Nair Hospital and phone call records of both Sunita and Radhe are being scrutinised, police said.