Cop quickness saves woman bleeding after husband's attack

Indira Mukherjee. Picture by Nantu Dey

TT, Raiganj, Jan. 31: The quick action of a woman police officer, cycling home after work last night, saved the life of a profusely bleeding woman crouching on the road.

Additional police superintendent Indira Mukherjee was returning to her bungalow from the police lines in the district administrative hub of Karnajora around 8.30pm yesterday when she saw the woman on the road.The woman, who was later identified as Bandana Das, was about a hundred yards from where the bungalows of the district magistrate and other senior officials are located. She had deep cuts on her neck and shoulders. Mukherjee called the police and the woman was rushed to the district hospital where she was operated upon late at night. Hospital sources said she was stable.

Bandana's mother has lodged an FIR against her daughter's husband, Ashis Das, who is on the run.

While being taken to the hospital, Bandana, 30, said she lived with her husband in the Hatkhola area of Raiganj. Her husband had hacked her after she failed to give him money from her parents to buy a motorbike. The couple has a son who is about six years old.

Mukherjee said as soon as she spotted the woman, she felt that there was something wrong with her.

"There is a culvert just before the district magistrate's bungalow. She was sitting there in the dark. I got off the cycle and approached her to ask her what she was doing sitting there all alone. She turned to me and begged me to take her to a hospital," Mukherjee said.

It was then that the officer noticed that the woman was bleeding from the neck. "There was a horrible and deep gash on her neck and it was bleeding continuously. I immediately alerted the Karnajora police outpost. I began talking to her to ensure that she did not pass out. As soon as the police came with a vehicle we took her to the hospital. I did what any citizen would have done," Mukherjee said.

Shankar Prasad Das, the surgeon who operated on the woman, said she had multiple wounds on her neck and shoulders. "She had deep wounds on her neck and shoulders inflicted with a sharp knife. She had lost a lot of blood and we operated on her to stop the bleeding. If there was a delay in bringing her to the hospital, her condition could have turned serious," he said.

According to police sources, the woman informed them after being admitted to the hospital that she was married to Ashis Das, a small-time trader, about eight years ago. "She told us that her husband always demanded money from her and recently wanted to buy a motorbike. Last night, we had an argument over money and her husband attacked her with a sharp blade. She managed to run and her husband who was chasing her stopped close to the district magistrate's bungalow that was about 200m from their home. She said at that point she did not have the strength to run any farther and sat on the culvert," a police source said.

North Dinajpur police superintendent, Amit Kumar Bharat Rathod, said the police were investigating the case. "The Raiganj police are investigating the case. The woman was taken to hospital in time due to the alertness of our additional police superintendent," Rathod said.