Mulankunnathkavu (Thrissur): A 70-year-old woman who took a lift on an autorickshaw in broad daylight here saw death at close quarters as she was hit on the head repeatedly by a hammer by the driver and nearly strangled by his woman accomplice before she was dumped on the wayside. The duo fled after robbing the hapless woman of her three sovereign worth gold chain. An intensive drive to nab the culprits is on.
The injured woman, identified as Susheela (70), was taken to the Thrissur Medical College. Her head wound needed nine stitches.
The incident happened at around 2:30pm on Sunday while Susheela was returning home at Vattayi, near Poomala, after attending a marriage of her relative at Tirur Centre.
As per Susheela's complaint, the woman who was seated in the passenger seat offered her the lift to Vattayi. Though she refused the offer at first, the woman persuaded her to enter the autorickshaw.
On reaching Athani, the autorickshaw turned to the Kurancherry side, without taking the deviation to Poomala. Susheela who grew suspicious asked the duo to allow her to get down at that place. However, they won her trust by saying that they would take her to home through the Nayarangadi route.
After reaching an isolated place near the Canal Bund area, the driver stopped the autorickshaw on the pretext of filling diesel which was stored in a can in the vehicle. As he approached, Susheela saw a hammer in his hand. Suddenly, the lady who was sitting beside Suseela tried to strangulate her using a rope after stuffing clothes into her mouth. As the driver tried to snatch the chain from her she resisted by catching hold of the rope and chain together. Soon, the driver hit Suseela on the head and forehead repeatedly using the hammer.
As Susheela told the duo that the chain she was wearing was that of fake gold, they tried to dump her into the Pathazhakundu dam. As Susheela cried aloud the duo dropped her on the wayside after driving for about a kilometre. Thereafter, they fled the scene in the autorickshaw itself. The duo likely feared that someone might notice if they dumped her into the dam, hence they drove away further.
Susheela who was injured in the head walked to a nearby house which was around 70 metres away from the spot and informed them about the horrifying incident.
She is the wife of late Balan of Karimbath House at Vattayi.
