Ludhiana: Alert homeowner foils robbery bid
A woman foiled a robbery by a Nepalese domestic help who laced food with sedatives. The family was rushed to the hospital, police investigating.
An alert woman foiled a robbery bid with presence of mind after a Nepalese domestic help laced food with sedatives on Sunday.
Despite feeling dizzy after consuming the sedative-laced food, the woman, a resident of college road, one of the posh localities of the city, managed to lock the domestic help out. The woman then alerted her husband, who called a neighbour to go to their house to check the matter.
The domestic help escaped from the house without taking anything.
The woman, her children and mother-in-law were rushed to hospital for treatment.
On being informed, the Division Number 8 police reached the spot and initiated an investigation.
The family had hired the domestic help, identified as Naresh, after getting a reference from their house help, who went on a leave.
The family did not get a police verification before hiring the domestic help.
Division Number 8 station-house officer (SHO) inspector Balwinder Kaur said the owner of the house was at work and his wife, children and elderly mother were home. The domestic help cooked food and served it. Unaware that the food was laced with sedatives, they consumed it.
The SHO said that after consuming food, the woman felt some dizziness and suspected foul play. She sent the employee out of the house on the pretext of fetching something and bolted the main door from inside. She called her husband, who sent a neighbour to check.
After he found the family members had lost consciousness, he rushed them to hospital.
This is the second such incident reported in the past three days. On Friday, the Sarabha Nagar police booked a domestic help for stealing ₹3 lakh and jewellery from the house of her employer.
