Woman killed on Marina over dispute in sex racket

People going for a walk at the Marina beach found a woman in a pool of blood behind the Anna Swimming Pool around 3 am on Sunday and alerted the Anna Square police. They rushed her to a government hospital but she was declared dead on arrival. Police sent her body for autopsy.

The police have registered a murder case as there were injuries and bruises all over her body. She has been beaten to death, said police who are trying to ascertain her identity as no one has claimed the body yet.

Sources in the city police said that the woman could have been involved in flesh trade. They suspect that she was murdered as she entered an area that was dominatedby another gang.

The areas behind MGR memorial and Anna Square have become hotspots for flesh trade post 11 pm with both women and transgender persons waiting to be picked up by men, said a source.

Usually, women commercial sex workers keep local anti-social elements as their guards. The woman, who was murdered on Saturday night, could have entered into the area after police patrol increased in and around the lighthouse. This could have led to a dispute between the woman and another gang resulting in the murder, added the source.

Though the local police identified spots on the Marina beach where flesh trade takes place and alerted the anti-vice squad of the Central Crime Branch, the wing allegedly did not take any action.

However, when contacted, the Assistant Commissioner of Anti-Vice Squad Maheshwari said that the wing has arrested four men and rescued 30 women involved in the flesh trade in the last few days. “We have not received complaints from the Marina yet, but I will look into the incident,”she added.