A 20-year-old dancer from India’s Assam state has been found dead beside a railway track in Andhra Pradesh after disappearing while travelling home from Visakhapatnam. Before losing contact with her family, she reportedly sent a message expressing fear over the overcrowded train carriage and the number of men around her.
Her body was recovered near a forested stretch of railway track in the Malayapuram area of Srikakulam district. Railway police are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death, including whether she fell from the moving train or whether a criminal act was involved.
According to a report by NDTV, the woman was a resident of Assam’s Kamrup district and a student at B Borooah College in Guwahati. She had travelled to Visakhapatnam with a dance troupe to participate in a cultural event.
After the programme, she decided to return home ahead of the other members of the troupe. She was scheduled to sit a bank recruitment examination in Guwahati on 10 October and wanted to get back early. During the journey, she remained in contact with her family and friends, updating them about her situation.
However, her messages soon raised concerns about her safety.
Final message revealed her fear
According to her relatives, the young woman told her family that the train carriage was extremely crowded and that she felt frightened by the number of men surrounding her.
“My surroundings are full of men, and I am very scared,” she reportedly wrote in her final message.
The family became increasingly worried after her mobile phone became unreachable following the early hours of 6 October. When repeated attempts to contact her failed, her relatives lodged a complaint with railway police and contacted the relevant helpline, prompting a search for her.
During the search, her bag and personal belongings were reportedly recovered from the train’s S2 coach. The discovery raised further questions about what had happened during the journey and how she had become separated from her possessions.
Her body was subsequently found beside the railway line in the forested area near Malayapuram. The discovery ended the search but left the circumstances of her disappearance and death unresolved.
Investigators examine CCTV footage and forensic evidence
Police have indicated that the woman may have fallen from the moving train. However, investigators have not established whether her death was accidental or whether violence or another criminal act was involved.
The post-mortem examination and forensic analysis are expected to help determine the cause of death. Investigators will need to assess the findings alongside other available evidence before drawing conclusions about the events leading to her death.
Police are also examining CCTV footage from Visakhapatnam railway station to identify an unidentified man who was reportedly seen with the woman before she boarded the train. Establishing his identity and determining the circumstances of their interaction may help investigators reconstruct her movements before the journey.
Her final message, the subsequent loss of mobile contact, the recovery of her belongings from the S2 coach and the discovery of her body are all important elements of the investigation. However, none of these details alone establishes what happened to her or whether another person was responsible.
For her family, the unanswered questions surrounding her final hours have compounded the tragedy. The young student had been returning home with an important examination approaching, but her journey ended in circumstances that remain unclear.
Investigators are continuing their inquiries, with forensic findings, post-mortem results and CCTV analysis expected to shed further light on the case. Until the evidence is assessed, the precise cause of her death and the events preceding it remain undetermined.
