Elderly couple, daughter, seriously injured in suspected dacoity attack in their house

An elderly couple and their daughter were seriously injured when an unknown person snuck into their house in the wee hours of Monday morning, and assaulted them with a machete-like object. While the assailant is yet to be identified, the police suspect it to be a case of dacoity or personal rivalry

MUMBAI: An elderly couple and their daughter were seriously injured when an unknown person snuck into their house in the wee hours of Monday morning, and assaulted them with a machete-like object. While the assailant is yet to be identified, the police suspect it to be a case of dacoity or personal rivalry. Since the area lacks CCTV cameras, and the victims have suffered severe blood loss and their statements are yet to be taken, the police will reveal further details later.

Elderly couple, daughter, seriously injured in suspected dacoity attack in their house

According to the Arnala police, the incident took place at around 3am when Jagannath Gowari, 76, his wife, Leela Gowari, 72, and daughter, Netra Gowari, 52 were asleep in their house in Bandarpada village, Virar.

Following the attack, Leela ran out of the house, bleeding from the severe injuries on her nose and face, and called for help. “I had returned from work at 1am and was about to sleep when I heard my aunt Leela screaming. We ran out and saw her bleeding. We rushed to help her when she told us that her husband and daughter were being attacked,” said a resident of the area.

By the time the neighbours rushed in, they found Jagannath and Netra covered in blood and immediately called three autos and rushed them to the nearby Sahyog Hospital, where they remain in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), said the police.

The neighbours noticed that the attackers had fled and immediately called the police. They also informed the injured couple’s son, professor Sachin Gowari, 47, who runs a coaching class, Arthav, in a nearby village called Agashi.

Sachin said, “We called the police for help at 3am but they arrived only after sunrise.” He added that the police had sealed the house and were conducting a forensic analysis, and therefore he could not check if anything had been stolen.

Deputy commissioner of police (zone 3), Suhas Bavche, said, “On inspecting the spot, we found that there were no signs of robbery in the house.” The police added that the gold chains the trio were wearing were untouched, which further suggested that the incident was not a robbery.

The police have registered an ‘attempt to murder’ case against the yet unknown assailants. “The injured have not yet given their statements so it is not clear whether there were more than one attackers,” said a police officer.