CHENNAI: In yet another attack on a working woman by a man known to her, a 31-year-old staff of Ashok Leyland was stabbed by a former colleague on Wednesday. While she survived the attack and is undergoing treatment, the man was caught by the public after being chased by two dogs owned by a local.
The woman, Suchismitha, from Kolkata, was heading to the bus stop from her hostel in West Mambalam when she was intercepted by Raghunath (23), a mechanical engineer from Sivakasi, around 6.30 am.
“They began to argue and the man pulled out a small knife and stabbed her in the stomach more than once, leaving her bleeding on the ground,” said Ram, an auto-rickshaw driver who helped nab Raghunath.
Though Raghunath initially tried to flee on his motorbike, on noticing that Ram witnessed the incident, he got off the vehicle and hurled a stone at him. As he was walking towards Ram, threatening to stab him, the latter’s dogs charged at Raghunath. “They chased him, making him trip on his bike. We then caught him and handed over to the police,” said Ram.
During an inquiry, it was learnt that Raghunath had lost his job at Ashok Leyland in Minjur after a quarrel with Suchismitha in the staff bus last July. “Following the incident, Suchismitha complained to her father, a senior staff in the company, and Raghunath was sacked. He has been unemployed since,” said an investigating officer. “The attacker was a not an employee of Ashok Leyland. He was a sub-contract employee,” Ashok Leyland said in a statement here. A case has been registered and further investigations are on.
Half an hour after they had helped nab the man who stabbed his former colleague, the two heroes of the day were seen busy playing with the neighbours while the media persons thronged the streets to click photos of them.
“They are fond of Ram and wouldn’t let anybody near him. They accompany him every morning when he goes to drink tea at around 6 am. It was the same on Wednesday, when both the dogs followed him to the tea stall at the end of the road, and turned out to be in the spot light when they nabbed the suspect,” said Revathy, Ram’s wife.
The incident occurred on a busy road right next to a school, working women’s hostel and opposite a famous temple. “However, he could have escaped easily on his bike. The public threw stones at him, but were scared of the knife he had. If the dogs were not present, he would have fled the scene,” said Lakshmi, a vendor.