Kozhikode: In a shocking incident, an elderly woman who arrived in Kozhikode by train in the early hours of Wednesday was robbed of her gold chain and abandoned on the roadside by an autorickshaw driver.
Josephina, a 67-year-old native of Irulam in Wayanad, sustained injuries in the attack and is currently receiving treatment at a private hospital. The incident occurred around 5 am when she hired an autorickshaw from the railway station to reach the KSRTC bus station. The police have launched a massive search to trace the autorickshaw and its driver.
During the attack, Josephina was thrown from the moving vehicle. She lay on the roadside in the rain for about an hour. Despite her pleas for help, passers by offered no assistance. Eventually, she managed to walk roughly half a kilometer to catch a bus to her brother’s residence, where she sought medical treatment.
Josephina recounted the incident to the police, explaining that she was returning to Wayanad after visiting her younger son’s family in Kayamkulam. She had arrived at the railway station around 4.50 am on the Malabar Express. Along with four other women, she decided to walk to the bus station together. However, heavy rain forced the group to seek shelter at a restaurant near the Chembotti junction in Melepalayam. Josephina, however, boarded an autorickshaw that came by.
Her suspicions grew when the autorickshaw did not reach the destination after a considerable time. She repeatedly asked the driver to stop, but he continued to drive through various interior roads. Eventually, the driver took her to an isolated location, where he reached out to grab her gold chain. Despite her attempts to resist, he succeeded in snatching the chain and pushed her out of the vehicle.
Josephina sustained injuries to her jaw, elbow and beneath her ears. Covering her injuries with her shawl, she lay on the road in the rain, repeatedly asking passers by for help, but to no avail. Finally, she staggered to the Palayam bus stand and took a bus to Koodaranji, where her brother resides. Once there, she informed her relatives about the incident. They immediately rushed her to a hospital in Omassery. Upon receiving a tip-off from the hospital authorities, the town police arrived at the hospital and recorded her statement. A case has been lodged, and an investigation is underway to trace the accused.