Human remains believed to be those of a woman and a young girl were found packed in three sacks in the Bhavani river at Attappady in Keralam’s Palakkad district on Sunday, September 6. The discovery has prompted the Pudur police to register a murder case and begin an investigation.
The sacks were found in the Cheerakkadavu area along the Bhavani river, around 9 km from Agali. Local residents noticed them after the water level in the river receded on Sunday. The river had remained swollen until Saturday, and the sacks are suspected to have become visible only after the water level dropped.
Residents who became suspicious of the sacks opened one of them and found what appeared to be two human heads inside. They immediately alerted the police.
A police team that reached the spot subsequently examined the other sacks. One contained the headless body of a young girl, believed to be around five years old. The second sack contained the heads of two persons, while another sack, found around a kilometre downstream, contained body parts believed to belong to a woman.
The woman is estimated to be over 30 years old. Police said the remains appear to have been in the water for at least five days and are badly decomposed, making identification difficult.
The remains have been taken to the Government Medical College Hospital in Thrissur, where postmortem examinations are scheduled to be conducted on Monday, September 7.
The Pudur police have registered a murder case under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita based on a witness statement. Police teams have also searched the surrounding areas for any additional remains or sacks, but found none.
Investigators are checking missing-person complaints registered in neighbouring districts of Keralam as well as Tamil Nadu in an attempt to establish the identities of the deceased. Police said no missing-person complaint matching the case has so far been reported at nearby police stations.
CCTV footage from areas surrounding the river is also being examined to determine how the sacks reached the water.
Police said there is no indication at present that the deceased belonged to the tribal communities of Attappady. Their identities and the circumstances surrounding their deaths are yet to be established.