Kochi: Clearly suffering from trauma, the 80-year old woman, who was found lying naked by the roadside on October 10 in the city, cannot recall who her assailant was or what he did to her even 45 days after she was raped.
“I was returning from church and lost consciousness somehow. Now they are asking me, were you subjected to assault?’’ says the hapless woman, who seems to have no memory of the event. However, having been informed that she had been raped, she is now demanding the maximum punishment for the man.
“I do not know who he is but he should not be spared. The authorities should ensure that he receives the maximum punishment so that such incidents do not happen again,’’ she insists.
Locals who found her by the roadside had rushed her to the medical college, and she was later shifted to the general hospital in Kochi, which discharged her on Monday.
And now she has been offered shelter by the Perumbavur –based Minnaminungu Charitable Trust as she has no family. “She has been living alone for the last 30 years and has nowhere to go,” says Paulin Varghese, chairperson of the trust.
Meanwhile, police said they would soon record her statement. “We have not been able to talk to her, but now that she has been discharged from hospital, we will approach her soon,’’ says CI Surendran. The police has already arrested one of her neighbours for the crime and he is currently in judicial custody.
