The police were yesterday investigating the true circumstances of a young woman who vanished inside a forest in Nuwara Eliya and was found four days later in a highly dehydrated condition.
The 24-year-old woman who was not named had gone into the forest along with her mother to fetch firewood when she disappeared without a trace prompting a massive hunt carried out jointly by the Police, Army and local villagers. The search operation was also repeatedly interupted owing to poor visibility created by thick fog.
“It is interesting to find out how the woman survived without food and water in the forest that also has a large presence of leopards. At this stage it is an open investigation, but to do this first, we have to talk to the woman who is in a very poor health condition and is being treated at the Nuwara Eliya Government Hospital”, Headquarters Inspector (HQI) Nuwara Eliya Police Chandana Wijeysekera said.
The police have recorded a statement from the woman’s mother and several others known to the family-all residents on a tea estate in Bambarakele, Aluthkolaniya in Shanthipura.
Nuwara Eliya Police are conducting further investigations.