In Chhattisgarh, 17-year-old tribal girl defends father against eight armed men

Police are investigating the case. Family suspects possible Maoists involvement.

In a daring act of bravery, a 17-year-old tribal girl in a village from Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district fought a group of eight armed men and saved her father from an attempt at his life, reported The Times of India.

Her daring act gave her neighbours enough time to intervene and rescue. (HT File)

The girl's father, Somdhar Korram, escaped the murder bid with a cut injury on his chest. He was later taken to the hospital and his condition is reportedly stable.

The gang had been on the lookout for the victim. On Monday, the gang of eight men barged into Korram's house and started attacking him with an axe. His daughter, who was about to serve him dinner, was shocked to see the gang surround her father.

“There were eight of them. They banged on the door and demanded to see my father. I looked out of the window and saw they were masked and carrying axes. Two of them had guns,” the girl told TOI.

She pounced on one among the axe wielding attacker and managed to snatch the weapon from him. Her move unsettled the gang and delayed the attack on her father. This gave her neighbours precious time to intervene and rescue the victim. The gang fled after neighbours' intervention.

“I started running towards them. I watched in horror as one of the men lifted his axe and brought it down on my father's chest. I was only a second late, but I rushed into the melee and grappled with the axemen. I snatched the axe from him, hurled it away,” she explained her act of bravery.

Superintendent of Police Narayanpur Prabhat Singh said the police have begun investigating the attempted murder. The victim's family suspects Maoists involvement.