Elderly lady from Australia mugged at dusk in Cooke Town

She was returning home from church; shaken by incident but thankful to all the passersby and locals who helped her

The quiet and serene neighbourhood of Cooke Town has seen a spate of petty crimes in the last few months which are causing a lot of distress to the residents.

With every incident, the miscreants seem to be getting bolder by the day if this incident involving a 70-year-old Australian woman is proof.

Linith, a resident of Victoria State in Australia, who is temporarily residing with her Indian family in Cooke Town, was the latest victim of a purse snatching incident. Linith was walking home from church last Wednesday evening, when two bike-borne men, stopped next to her, snatched her purse and sped off. She’s so shaken by the incident that she wants to go back home to her husband in Australia.

Linith had come to Bengaluru in February for her son’s wedding which was postponed to May due to the pandemic. She said, “My son got married in May and I was planning to return in June but the flights were cancelled. The airline returned the ticket fare to me recently. I have been waiting to book tickets for a flight back home where my husband is waiting for me. On Wednesday evening, around 6:30 pm, I finished my church mass and was returning to my relative’s house in Cooke Town when this incident occurred. I was walking slowly on Hutchins road and was holding my handbag to my right. Out of nowhere, two men on a bike came very close to me and snatched my bag. I held on to it tight and didn’t let go but they managed to snatch it from me. I was really scared and shaken by the incident but the people of the road came to my help after hearing my cries. One of them dropped me home in his car.”

While Linith is relieved that the miscreants caused no harm to her, she wonders if she will get back what was in the bag. “The bag had a few Australian dollars, Rs 7,000 in cash, a notebook with important contact numbers and addresses, the keys to the house where I’m staying and an old rosary which was very dear to me,” she said.

Since the keys were stolen, her hosts had to change the lock. “It was a horrible incident. I haven’t been able to step out of my house to even approach the police. I’m scared to even open the door. I informed my son and my husband who is also worried about me. I want to return home immediately. It was only on Friday, after another resident of Cooke Town, Avner Barak, came to my help, that I could step out and file a police complaint.”

The Pulakeshinagar police have registered a case and investigations are on.