Ajay Kanth By Express News Service KOCHI: Mary Joseph, 84, dreads the thought of being alone in her home – ‘Eliza Garden’ at Ayyappankavu West Road in the heart of the city – even during the day. Though she has been living there for the past 40 years, this is the first time she is feeling such fear.“The incident haunts me,” says the octogenarian, referring to the horror she endured on February 21 when two robbers, both Uttar Pradesh natives, barged into her house in broad daylight and bound and gagged her. Mary Joseph What happened? Mary was alone in her house, located just a few hundred metres away from the North police station, when the incident took place. The two girls who stayed with her as paying guests were also not in the house. Mary had returned home from church around 11am and was sitting in the living room cutting vegetables when the duo came to her house under the garb of selling curtains. Seeing her alone, they barged in and locked the front door. Before Mary could do anything, one of the accused grabbed her legs, dragged her to the bedroom and tied her up. When she tried to shout, they put a gag in her mouth. Though one of the accused threatened her at gunpoint, she kept trying to shout through the gag. Around 11.15am, one of her neighbours heard her cries and rushed to the house. When the neighbour knocked on the door, the robbers fled through the back door. While one of them escaped, the other was caught by locals and handed over to the police. ‘I almost collapsed’ “I almost collapsed when they gagged me. My entire body pained after I was dragged through the floor. The windows were closed as I hadn’t opened them in the morning. It was by god’s grace that my neighbour passed by the bedroom when I cried,” recalled Mary. Though Mary was discharged from the hospital on Thursday, her fragile body is still weak and she has not yet recovered from the shock. “The incident haunts me. I have never had such a horrendous experience in my life. Now, I am afraid to stay alone in my house even during daytime,” Mary told TNIE.

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