The victim was walking on the road when the man accosted and assaulted her; the injuries were so horrific that she required plastic surgery to stitch her lip back
The woman’s son and husband found her bitten off lower lip on the ground
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It was a bloody Holi for a 50-year-old woman in Sion who was accosted in her building compound by a complete stranger who grabbed her, kissed her forcibly and then bit her lip off and spat it on the ground. The police have launched a manhunt for the pervert but are yet to narrow down on any suspects.
The woman had to undergo plastic surgery so her lip could be stitched back together
The elderly woman had just had lunch and she went downstairs for a walk in her building compound at King's Circle around 3.30 pm. While she was strolling, she was accosted by a stranger - a man in his 20s. He had colour on his face as well as clothes from playing Holi earlier in the day.
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"He came out of nowhere. He said 'I love you' to my mother, and then grabbed her," recalled the victim's son.
"He tried to kiss her, but my mother resisted. Then he held her head and kissed her by force. It was so brutal that he bit off her lower lip and fled," he added.
Family to the rescue
She shouted with all her might, and even tried to catch hold of the pervert, but he managed to get out of her grasp. But her son and husband heard her cries and rushed downstairs to help.
"We found her in a semi-unconscious state, with blood oozing from her mouth. When we checked her face, we found her lip was torn in two. We saw the torn off bit - her lower lip - on the ground. It took us few minutes to figure out what had happened. It was a horrible sight," recalled the son.
But they weren't the only ones who had heard the woman's screams. "While the pervert was fleeing from the building, a hawker heard my mother's cries. He stopped, but didn't take any action, and the accused was able to escape easily. The least that hawker could have done was to raise an alarm and get others to stop the man," said the victim's son.
3 hospitals later...
The son and husband picked up her torn lip from the ground and took the 50-year-old to Sion Hospital, a few minutes away from their house. But, on reaching the hospital, the family was asked to wait. But her son and husband knew that time was crucial, as her the bitten off lip would have to be stitched back on her face.
"After waiting for a few minutes, we figured out that it would take time for the treatment, so we took her to another hospital nearby. But it was a heart hospital, and the staff told us that they can't handle the case as my mother would need plastic surgery," recalled her husband.
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She was then shifted to PD Hinduja Hospital and underwent surgery on the same day. "My mother is recovering now and her condition is stable," said her son, adding, "The Sion police came to the hospital and took down my complaint. We have requested the cops to arrest the pervert at any cost - this incident shows that the city is not safe for women even in the daytime, not even in their own building premises," said the anguished son.
Cops have no clue
After registration of the complaint, the police checked the crime scene but did not find any clues or even CCTV footage. "We have formed teams to nab the accused. The building didn't have a security guard, and since it was on the afternoon of Holi, there were no passers-by to witness the incident either," said DCP (Zone IV) N Ambika.
"Some CCTV footage is available from nearby areas, but it is not clear enough," she added.
A case has been registered under Sections 354 (outrage a woman's modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe a woman), 325 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code. The Crime Branch is conducting a parallel investigation into the matter.
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