Houston: A 43-year-old Indian-origin woman researcher in the United States (US) was murdered while she was out jogging in Plano. It should be stated here that Planco is a suburb near the city of Dallas in Texas. Police said have initiated a homicide investigation to probe into the death of the woman researcher, media reports said here Tuesday.
According to police, Sarmistha Sen, who was based in Plano was randomly attacked and killed while jogging August 1. The gruesome incident took place near the Chisholm Trail Park. Her body was found lying in the creek-area near ‘Legacy Drive’ and ‘Marchman Way’ by a passer-by, according to a report in the WFAA.com.
Sen was a pharmacist and researcher who studied molecular biology and worked with cancer patients. She originally was from Sindri in Jharkhand and moved to Plano after her marriage to Arindam Roy. She has two young sons.
According to the ‘Dallasnews.com’, a person of interest in the case has been arrested on a burglary charge. The suspect is identified as 29-year old Bakari Moncrief. He is being held on a USD 1 million bond for the burglary charge.
““We have our suspicions, but we have to have proof,” Plano police spokesperson David Tilley said. “And that’s what we are looking for right now. We are trying to obtain proof as to whether or not this individual is or is not responsible for her death,” he said.
Police say around the same time of the murder, someone broke into a house nearby on the 3400 block of Michael Drive.
“This is not something we see and definitely something very very random,” Tilley was quoted as saying by the ‘WFAA.com’. “For something like this to happen, clearly it concerns all of us. And we’re very hopeful that this is going to be an isolated incident,” he added.
The medical examiner has not released the cause of death, and police are not saying how Sen died. An athlete, Sen used to run the popular ‘Chisholm Trail’ nearly every morning before her children woke up, the report in the ‘fox4news.com’ said.
The incident led to an outpouring of grief and support for the family. Her family stated that she went for her regular run Saturday morning and never came back. Her elder brother, Sumit Sen, a doctor, has flown in from California after hearing the news. Sumit said that her sister had a go-getter spirit and was an avid runner.
“She just immediately connected with anybody she met on a deeply personal level with a very infectious smile and energy,” he said.
A day after the incident, strangers, neighbours and friends surrounded two trees near the park with flowers and hundreds of running shoes. “It touched me. It’s great when I’ve seen hundreds of shoes because you know what, people care,” Mario Major, close friend of the family said.