With a body that was charred and days old, the Wadakkanchery police had a primary challenge at hand: to establish the identity of the woman who was found dead on a secluded field in Kuranchery near the State Highway in Thrissur district. Efforts to see if a complaint for a missing woman was filed in any police station across the district, initially drew a blank. Finally, it was a gold chain on the body that helped the police identify the woman – a 51-year-old from Ottapalam, a taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala.

According to the Circle Inspector of Wadakkanchery police station in Thrissur, the gold chain found on the body was a thaali (gold pendant worn by married women). “When we analysed the gold pendant, it had a code letter on it, which indicated the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) hallmark. Using the BIS hallmark, we traced the jewellery to Ottapalam, from where she bought it,” the CI said.

The Wadakkanchery police then contacted the Ottapalam police station and found that a woman was reported missing by her family on February 8. “The woman’s husband had filed the complaint, reporting that his wife did not return home that night. The family reached the Thrissur Medical College on Friday and identified her body from a piece of cloth on the body, her earrings and the gold chain,” the CI added.

According to the CI, the 51-year-old woman had sought treatment at a mental health and rehabilitation centre in Kuranchery, the village where the body was found. “The body has been sent for post-mortem to the Thrissur Medical College. We are still investigating the case and yet to establish the exact cause of death,” he said.

Meanwhile, the police have registered a case of unnatural death under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The woman is survived by her husband, two daughters and a son, said the police.