Men murder woman in robbery bid, sever toes to steal toe rings

This picture has been used for representational purposes.

Hyderabad: A 42-year-old woman was killed by unknown men in Telangana's Nizamabad in a robbery bid and fled with her gold and silver jewellery. The murder was gruesome as the men severed her toes to take her silver toe rings. According to the police, the thieves also sprinkled spices, vermillion, and pickles around the woman's body and lit oil lamps to make it appear that she was killed while practicing occult to divert the investigators, The Times of India reported.

The incident happened on Monday when the deceased, R Varalakshmi was alone at home. According to the police, unknown persons ransacked the house and fled with five tola gold and some silver jewellery that Varalakshmi was wearing, adding that they severed two of her toes to steal her silver toe rings.

When her husband, Srinivas, a construction businessman, returned home from work, he found the front door locked from outside. When he entered home, he found Varalakshmi's body lying on the sofa. The police said she was hit on her head with a blunt object and her throat was slit with a sharp weapon. Srinivas then alerted their neighbours after which the police were informed.

The police raised suspicions that the vermillion and spices sprinkled around the body along with the oil lamps lit was to show that she was while practicing occult. They also suspect that the powders were sprinkled on her to mislead the sniffer dogs and make it tough to follow their trail.

The deceased's family have a German Shepherd dog that was tied outside the house at the time of the incident. As the neighbours did not hear the dog bark, the police suspect that someone known to the family is behind the murder.

The police are checking the CCTV footage and data of the cellphone used at the crime scene at the time of the incident, the police said. The deceased has two children who are studying in Guntur.

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