Stabbed thrice, 54-year-old woman fights off armed intruder in Derabassi

Mohali: In an extraordinary act of courage and presence of mind, a 54-year-old woman in Derabassi fought off an armed intruder who entered her home on the pretext of delivering a courier, even as he stabbed her repeatedly during the struggle.Sushma Sharma, a widow living in a colony on Gulabgarh Road, turned what could have been a tragic robbery into a story of grit and survival. At home with her daughter-in-law and seven-year-old grandson, she chose to confront the attacker instead of backing down.The incident unfolded on Tuesday afternoon when the accused arrived at the house posing as a courier delivery agent. The unsuspecting child opened the gate, allowing the man to walk in. Moments later, the situation turned threatening when he revealed a pistol-like weapon in one hand and a knife in the other."I immediately realised he was not a courier but a robber. Without thinking twice, I caught hold of him," Sharma recounted from her hospital bed.What followed was a fierce, close-quarters struggle inside the house. Using sheer instinct and determination, Sharma grabbed the attacker's weapon hand with one hand and clutched his neck with the other. Raising loud cries for help, she dragged him from the entrance towards the drawing room, refusing to let him overpower her, as she narrated to the police.Enraged, the attacker stabbed her multiple times. But even as she bled, Sharma did not loosen her grip."He was stabbing me, but I held him by the throat and kept shouting. I pushed him with all my strength," she said.Her resistance and relentless shouting ultimately unnerved the attacker. In a desperate bid to escape, he broke free and fled the house, leaving behind his helmet and mobile phone. He sped away on a scooter, abandoning his plan midway.Sharma, soaked in blood, was rushed to a hospital where doctors administered 24 stitches at three different places on her body. Despite the injuries, she remains stable.BOXDropped mobile phone led to arrest of suspectThe accused in the Derabassi house trespass and attempted murder case was traced and arrested within 48 hours on Thursday, with investigators relying on a crucial clue — a mobile phone he dropped at the crime scene — and the fact that he was using a borrowed scooter.Derabassi SP Bikramjit Singh Brar said the team, led by Inspector Sumit Mor, SHO Derabassi, worked on technical inputs and human intelligence to trace the accused.The accused, identified as Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Buddanpur in Sector 16, Panchkula, was arrested on Thursday. Police also recovered the sharp-edged weapon used in the crime and the scooter.During custody, the accused attempted to escape by jumping from a room but failed, sustaining injuries to his right arm and feet.According to police, the accused borrowed both a mobile phone and a Honda Activa scooter from an acquaintance to carry out the crime. During the attack, his mobile phone fell at the spot, which became a key piece of evidence in identifying and tracking him. A case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at Police Station Derabassi.Preliminary investigation revealed that a monetary dispute was the motive behind the attack.