Man arrested for raping and killing middle-aged woman

A 23-year-old man from Karnataka was arrested for allegedly raping and killing a middle-aged woman at Old Goa village, 10 kms away from here, police said Sunday.

The arrest was made Saturday night, days after the victim's body was found in Old Goa, police said. "The accused, Manjunath Dodamani, hailed from Belgaum in Karnataka and lived with his parents at Old Goa. He was arrested last night," Superintendent of Police (North), Chandan Chaudhury, told reporters.

"He has confessed to the crime. He told the police that on Wednesday night, he offered a lift to the woman and later took her to an isolated spot, where he raped her and later strangled her to death," the SP said adding that the accused knew the deceased. The woman's post-mortem had revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered, police said.

Chaudhury said a team of 15 police officers followed all possible leads to nab the accused.