Alappuzha: The violent attack on a woman at her workplace was a chilling moment for the staff at the KSFE branch, Kalarkode. Chandra Babu (42), the Special Grade Assistant with the KSFE whose timely intervention overpowered the assailant averted what could have been a gruesome incident. He said that he acted on instinct.

“It was totally involuntary. I saw a well-built man rushing towards her from the entrance. He was fuming and I felt something was amiss. Everybody else didn’t notice him and hence I moved towards her, who was talking with other colleagues and was three to four metres away from me,” Chandra Babu told Onmanorama while recollecting the horrifying moments.

" To my horror, he took out the weapon and swung it at the woman collection agent, inflicting a deep wound behind her neck. But the weapon got out of his hand and fell to the ground. He was shouting that he would kill her and turned around to collect the hatchet," he said.

" Before I knew it, I was already in motion and pushed him hard to the ground before he could pick up the weapon again. It felt like a split-second decision, driven purely by an overwhelming urge to protect my colleague," he added. "I pinned him down, but he was tall-built. Suddenly, the others also rushed towards him and pushed him to the ground. We forced him to lie on the floor for several minutes till the cops came rushing. He was very violent and attempting to get up and attack the victim all the while," Chandra Babu said.

The dramatic scene unfolded in the bustling office building at noon on Monday. The assailant, the brother-in-law of victim Mayadevi (37), suddenly barged into the office. Mayadevi was clarifying a few work-related matters with the staff there and didn’t notice him. The accused Suresh Babu, upon spotting her, came running to her and brandished the hatchet that he hid in his pants pocket and attacked the victim.

Though she suffered a deep wound on the top of her left shoulder behind her neck, her condition was stable and she was recuperating at Alappuzha Medical College.

"We honoured Chandra Babu this morning for his daring intervention. If the attacker managed to regain the weapon, then he would have attacked the victim and killed her. The attacker was well-built and had a burly figure. But Chandra Babu acted daringly, and the other joined him in pinning the attacker down to the floor," said Ameena T S, Branch Manager.

There were eight Grade Assistants at that time, besides the victim, in the office and nearly 20 customers. The Alappuzha South Police arrested Suresh Babu, a native of Sreevihar, Kalarickal, Kaichoondi, in connection with the incident.