The upper portion of the body was burnt when the police found it, adding that the victim was wearing a jeans and a top. (Photo: Representational)

Pakur: The police on Tuesday recovered the burning body of a woman from a forest in Pakur district, who was suspected to have been gangraped before being killed, police said.

On being informed by the locals, a police team reached the spot near Simaldhav village and found the burning body of the woman in her early 20s.

The policemen doused the flames with the help of locals and sent the body for postmortem examination, sub-divisional police officer Shravan Kumar said.

Kumar did not rule out the possibility of gangrape before the victim was set on fire to conceal evidences. The upper portion of the body has been burnt when the police found it, he said adding that the victim was wearing a jeans and a top.

Another piece of cloth, believed to be belonging to the woman, was also found from the spot. The SDPO said the victim was probably not a local as people from the nearby areas could not identify her and there had been no report of missing or abduction in the locality.

It is suspected that the criminals brought the victim from somewhere else, Kumar said. Asked whether the victim was burnt alive, he said it would be confirmed only after the postmortem examination.