KATHMANDU, July 25: A woman who had been reported missing a day earlier was found dead inside a burnt car in northern Kathmandu on Saturday.
The deceased has been identified as Rashmi Rijal, around 40, of Nepaltar in Tarakeshwar Municipality. Her body was found on the rear seat of a fire-damaged car in Jhor Sangla, Tarakeshwar Municipality-1, according to the Kathmandu District Police Range.
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Rijal had been reported missing on Friday, prompting her family to file a missing person's report with the police. Acting on the complaint, investigators launched a search operation that eventually led them to the vehicle.
Police have launched an investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death. "The woman had been missing since Friday, and we had received a missing person's report," said Senior Superintendent of Police Dilip Ghimire. "During the search, we found her body inside the car she had driven herself to Jhor Sangla."
Police said preliminary findings indicate that Rijal had driven the vehicle to the location herself. She was employed at Sanima Capital.
Investigators said the interior of the car was extensively damaged by fire, although the circumstances surrounding the blaze and Rijal's death remain unclear. Police have yet to determine whether the fire broke out before or after her death.
Rijal's body has been sent to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj for a post-mortem examination. Police said further investigation is underway to establish the cause of the incident.
