Noida: Woman walks 7km to borrow ₹5,000, robbed on her way home

A woman, believed to be in her late thirties, walked seven kilometres to borrow ₹5,000 from a relative to feed her family, only to be robbed by two motorcycle-borne snatchers in broad daylight on Monday.

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The woman lives with her husband and two ten-year-old children in Sadarpur village in Sector 45 and works as a domestic helper, while the husband works as a rickshaw puller and part time security guard.

“I haven’t been able to work ever since the lockdown started. Sometimes I get called for guard duty but I don’t make nearly as much as I used to. My wife only got partial wages this month. For several days in the past week, we slept on an empty stomach,” said the husband, requesting anonymity for himself and for his wife.

“Some relatives of ours live in Sector 2. On Monday afternoon, my wife and our 10-year-old son walked seven km to their house and she borrowed Rs 5,000 from them. On their way back, around 2.30 pm, two motorcycle-borne men, who had their faces covered, snatched my wife’s purse and sped away,” he said. When HT asked to speak to his wife for a comment, he said his wife is scared and does not wish to speak to the media.

He said the incident took place at the Atta Peer red light near Sector 18.

He said his wife is illiterate and could not note the number plate of the vehicle, nor could she recognise the snatchers. She then called him up, and he drive his rickshaw to the spot to pick them up, he added.

“I could not go to the relative’s house myself as cycle rickshaws are not permitted to ply on roads due to the lockdown. Luckily, my wife and son were not injured. But now, not only do we have no money, we are in debt with no way to pay it off. Some people have come forward to help us with ration. In addition, our elder son (18) who is back home in Bihar with his grandparents, as well as some other family members, are dependent on us but we don’t have the means to help them anymore,” he said, adding that he could

However, the husband said he did not inform the police as his previous attempt of reporting a crime did not go down well.

“Three months back, my phone was snatched in Sector 18. A passenger in my rickshaw took my phone on the pretext of transferring the fare through PayTM as he didn’t have cash on him. But instead of paying, he fled with my phone. I went to at least three police stations with my complaint but everybody kept referring me to a different police station. I ran from pillar to post but no help came. Why would this time be any different?” said the husband.

The police said the incident has been brought to the notice of police officials by media persons and the family has been contacted by local cops. He said a complaint will be filed at the Sector 20 police station.

“We will have the case investigated along with the three month old incident and take necessary action,” said deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Sankalp Sharma.