‘They fired at us, but it did not scare me’

Suman, the 38-year-old housewife who wrestled with two chain snatchers and helped the police nab one of them would have landed in a hospital had her two-sister-in-laws not supported her in the brave act.

Suman, the 38-year-old housewife who wrestled with two chain snatchers and helped the police nab one of them would have landed in a hospital had her two-sister-in-laws not supported her in the brave act.

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Narrating the incident, Suman said she was screaming and requesting people to come for help but everyone remained unmoved. “The nearest police posts of both Noida and Delhi Police are barely some meters away from the spot, but no police officer reached for our help,” said Suman, who thanked her two sister-in-laws — Brijesh and Sunita — for helping her catch the snatcher.

“At that time, the only thing I had in my mind was that I will not let the assailants go easily. They fired at us and pointed the gun at my head, but it did not scare me at all. Had I let him go, he would have targetted several women like me which I didn’t want.” added Suman.

Suman’s husband Sanjay Kumar said that his wife has made him proud and that everyone in his locality is talking about her commendable act. The incident had occurred on Tuesday afternoon in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar Phase-III area.

Home to several residential colonies, the east district of the Delhi Police receives at least 32 calls informing them about snatching incidents every week. Sources claim that at each of its 16 police stations respond to at least two snatching calls in addition to receiving two ‘walk-in’ victims complaining about snatching every seven days.

The district police have registering as many as 182 cases of snatching till November 8 this year. The police had registered 186 cases of snatching till the same time period last year.

“We will soon start registering all cases of snatching under robbery since, in a huge majority of such cases, criminal force is always used in the commission of the crime —whether to intercept the victim, or while actually executing the crime,” said the officer.

The Delhi Police is planning to reward Suman with a cash reward, which will be announced soon.