An 80-year-old woman and her daughter-in-law thwarted a robbery attempt at their house in Subhash Place here on Monday by a former domestic help and her paramour despite sustaining injuries on their hands. The accused have been arrested.
The police received a call about two injured women around 7 p.m. Shanti Devi was found lying in a pool of blood in the lobby of her house and her daughter-on-law Veena was in a state of shock. While they were being taken to hospital, the police detained a woman named Radhika (30) from an under-construction house in the neighbourhood after they found bloodstains on her clothes.
Veena identified Radhika as her former domestic help and alleged that she along with a male accomplice had attacked her and her mother-in-law with the intention of committing robbery. She told the police that the family had recently hired Radhika as a domestic help, but she worked only for about a month and then quit the job in April.
Thereafter, Radhika met Veena thrice looking for a job for her husband and a daughter, but Veena refused. Around 6-15 p.m. on Monday, Radhika again turned up along with one T. Ramesh (28) and gained entry into the house on the pretext that she was thirsty and wanted some water to drink.
Head banged
The domestic help then suddenly pounced on Shanti Devi and Ramesh attacked Veena, banging her head against the floor several times. Veena offered resistance and raised an alarm, hearing which her neighbours rushed to her help.
The accused were overpowered and locked up in a room, following which Veena called up the police and her husband. However, by the time the police reached the spot, the two managed to break open the rear door and were fleeing when Radhika was arrested. A few minutes later, Ramesh was also intercepted by a quick reaction team on patrol duty.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they lived together. Radhika, whose husband had deserted her, wanted to marry Ramesh and move to their native place, for which they needed money. Hence, they allegedly planned to target Shanti Devi and her daughter-in-law.
The police have seized two mobile phones from the accused. They have also preserved the evidence, including a bloodstained bed sheet, a wiper, broken glass pieces that were used to attack the victims, an iron rod, bloodstained gloves, broken bangles and a bloodstained stick.
