CHENNAI: A 30-year-old woman riding home from work was grievously assaulted, dragged off the road to a deserted place and robbed of her gold chain, mobile phone and scooter on the city’s outskirts on Monday night.
A few passers-by spotted P Lavanya lying unconscious by the Thalambur-Perumbakkam road around 1 am and alerted the police. She had a cut on her face — likely inflicted using an iron rod or knife — and had to undergo a surgery.
While being taken to the hospital, she told the police that she had left her office, Global Infotech, at Navalur, OMR around 11.30 pm and was headed to her sister’s house in Nookampalayam. As she slowed down at a curve on the Thalambur-Perumbakkam road, a man struck her in the face using a sharp object. The police say Lavanya remembers only one man being there.
“As she fell, the man dragged her across the road into a vacant piece of land and left her there. He took her gold chain (three sovereigns) and cellphone. She managed to get up and walk to the main road on regaining consciousness, where she was spotted by a few passers-by, who alerted us,” said a senior police officer. A police patrol vehicle reached the spot and took her to a nearby private hospital. While staff at the hospital refused to speak about Lavanya, police sources said she is out of danger.
The woman is a native of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and was staying alone in a rented house at Thalambur. She was working in the IT company in Navalur.
“This stretch generally feels unsafe since it is dark and deserted. But this is the first such incident we are hearing of in this area. It has come as a shock for the neighbourhood,” said Perumal, a security guard at a residential apartment nearby. The police have registered a case on charges of theft and attempt to murder.