Dubai: An elderly couple in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu are being hailed as “brave” after their video went viral. They fought off two armed robbers by hurling slippers, chairs, buckets at the intruders even though the men were wielding machetes.
In the video, Shanmugavel, a 70-year-old man is seen sitting outside his house in Kalyanipuram, a village in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, when a masked intruder slowly sneaks up behind him. Catching the old man off-gaurd, the intruder tries to choke him with a piece of cloth around his neck.
Shanmugavel makes noise as he struggles to free himself and soon his wife, 65-year-old As Senthamarai, comes running out of the house, another masked intruder appears on the screen.
Fighting till the intruders flee
In the following 55 seconds, the elderly couple bravely fight back. The woman starts throwing slippers at the intruder choking her husband. The slippers hits the man giving Shanmugavel a chance to escape the grip. He falls, gets up, picks up a plastic chair and flings it at the men.
The intruders then pull out sickles, ready to attack the couple.
Shanmugavel and his wife start fighting back by throwing everything they could lay their hands on including the chairs and stools. In less than a minute the intruders give up and hastily flee.
Social media users praised the couple for their courage and quick-thinking.
Twitter user @chandrarsrikant wrote: “It’s a scary situation for anyone to be in, esp for a 70- and 65-year-old. Isolated house close to the forest, with two armed intruders gaining entry. Amazing how they chased them away bravely. Glad both are safe.
And tweep @mankuli posted: “The moment the lady REFUSED to be helpless and took control, the situation changed. That was the moment they won the fight. Kudos.”
What the couple had to say
Speaking to Indian News website, The News Minute, Shanmugavel said: “We live in a farmhouse at the edge of the village and it is located very close to the forest. It is a five-acre land and we have been here for 40 years. We were acutely aware of the fact that we were susceptible to attacks from robbers because our house was isolated from the rest of the village.
“When I was getting strangled, I immediately began to make loud noises to get my wife’s attention. I knew it didn’t have to make sense. It just had to bring her to the entrance.”
According to the report: “Senthamarai appears completely unperturbed by the previous night’s attack. She merely laughs when this reporter expresses awe at her act of bravery. When asked how she reacted almost immediately to the attack, by throwing footwear at the first intruder, she says, ‘Because I love my husband of course. How can I bear to watch when someone is hurting him?’ she asks.”
She added: “One of them hurt my hand with the sickle and in that gap, managed to steal my gold chain.... But my husband is unhurt and I am happy we chased the intruders away.”
The local police have filed an FIR, however, the accused are yet to be identified and arrested.
