A 19-year-old girl who had gone missing two weeks ago from her residence was found dead in a well at Palladam in neighbouring Tirupur district on Wednesday.
Police said Sri Barathi, a resident of Kamanaickenpalayam and a third year B.Com student at a private college in Sultanpet, had gone missing on October 11.
“The girl had left home saying that she was going to college. She did not return,” police said.
Barathi’s father Pechimuthu, 49, who runs a handloom unit, and other family members launched a search for the girl in the neighbourhood but failed to find her.
Based on a complaint, the Kamanaickenapalayam police registered a case.
On Wednesday, residents of Kamanaickenpalayam found a foul smell emanating from a well in their neighbourhood.
A police team rushed to the scene and took out the decomposed body of the girl.
The police personnel traced the identity of the girl with the colour of her dress and her jewels, which were intact.
The members of the missing girl’s family confirmed that the body was that of Sri Barathi.
As the body was decomposed, the police could not ascertain the exact mode of death of the college student.
Police did not rule out murder as a cause of death but said that the actual reason could be ascertained only after a postmortem.
“An autopsy was conducted on the body of the deceased at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) on Thursday. It might take two more days to get the results,” said a police official.
The police have registered a case of suspicious death and investigations are on.