A 79-year-old woman was allegedly robbed by a two-member gang who broke into her house in Balaramapuram during the early hours of Thursday and tortured her for around two hours.
The victim, identified as Ratnamma of Vanikar Theruvu, was admitted to General Hospital in Neyyattinkara with significant injuries after being attacked.
According to the Balaramapuram police, the incident took place by around 1.30 a.m. when the duo barged into her house, where Ratnamma has been residing all alone, and assaulted her. They then sprayed an unidentified substance on her, which apparently made her drowsy. Her further attempts to resist the robbery incensed the perpetrators, who tied her up and gagged her, before assaulting her again.
They also allegedly pulled off her bangles, nose ring and other gold ornaments weighing around 11.5 sovereigns. They fled from the house after stealing around ₹1,000.
The woman was shifted to the Neyyattinkara General Hospital by her neighbours who heard her screaming. She alleged that two persons, identified as Rajesh of Palode and Sunny of Thrissur, who had stayed in a portion of her house on rent earlier, were behind the incident.
While the police took into custody one person in connection with the case, they were yet to divulge further details.
