The nude body of a teenage schoolgirl, believed to have been raped and murdered, was found dumped in a canal at an oil palm estate in Teluk Intan, about 100km from Ipoh today.

Sixteen-year-old M. Dirya Barathi - who had failed to return home from school yesterday - was found in the half-filled canal in Ladang Rubana where her father worked as chief supervisor.

While there were no visible external injuries, the police have not ruled out the possibility that the schoolgirl's assailant could have drowned her in the canal.

A passer-by who stumbled on the body about 7.30am, alerted the police.

A team of police investigators which scoured the area found Dirya Barathi's school uniform, a short distance from the canal.

The body was sent to the Teluk Intan Hospital for post-mortem.

Initial police investigations have not discounted the possibility that Dirya Barathi could have been waylaid by her assailant when she returned from school.

Could have been raped: police

Hilir Perak police chief assistant commissioner Goh Kok Liang said the police believed Dirya Barathi could have been raped before she was killed.

He said the police had yet to determine the motive of the murder.

Dirya Barathi, who went to school in the morning at Sekolah Menengah Horley Methodist, Teluk Intan, eight kilometres away, caused concern among family members when she did not return home in the evening.

Her father, Ladang Rubana chief supervisor K. Murali, 43, reported the teenager's disapperance about 9pm, at the Hilir Perak police headquarters.

The police have urged those with information on the killing to contact the Hilir Perak police headquarters at 05-621 2222 to facilitate investigations.

- Bernama