The decomposed body of a 60-year-old woman, identified as Saita Khilla of Sunapur village, was recovered on Wednesday morning from the Kolab reservoir near Sunapur under the Koraput Municipality limits.
Local residents spotted the body floating in the reservoir early in the morning and immediately informed village members and local councillor Leha Pradhan. Villagers who gathered at the spot suspected it to be that of Saita Khilla, who had been missing for the past three days.
Councillor Pradhan alerted emergency services by dialling 112. A team from the Koraput Town Police Station and the Fire Services soon reached the site and retrieved the body from the reservoir.
Relatives of the deceased, who reside in nearby Jhatiguda village, arrived at the spot and positively identified the body as that of Saita. They said the elderly woman occasionally suffered from mental instability. They suspect she may have accidentally slipped and drowned while visiting the reservoir for open defecation.
Being from an extremely poor family, the relatives have appealed for government assistance.
Police have seized the body and shifted it to Koraput Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination. An unnatural death case has been registered, and the body will be handed over to the family after the autopsy, police said.
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