DARK ALLEY OF FEAR WIDOW, 60, TELLS OF TERROR
AFTER SHE WAS ATTACKED BY A MAN WIELDING A KNIFE
I kept holding onto his hand as hard as I could but on his last try, it had nearly pierced my right thigh and it has left a scar. There is no street light here and it becomes a very dark place at night and because of that some residents have being robbed and hassled along the way. Pushpa Devi Tacirua resident
Pushpa Devi of Kali Place in Tacirua, Nasinu, is living in fear after an intruder recently entered her home in the early hours of the morning and threatened to kill her if his demands were not met.
The man emerged from a dark alley that runs near her home in this sprawling informal settlement of about 1000 structures.
She is one of several residents who have been targeted in home invasions on either side of the narrow alley. Fear stalks the community when it begins to get dark. Police are investigating.
Mrs Devi said: “The man had grabbed a knife from our kitchen and came into the room where my two grandchildren and I were sleeping,”
“I got up from the bed when he demanded that I give him money. I told him that I had no money to give,” she said.
“After I said that to him. he threatened me with the knife and tried to attack me but luckily I managed to grab my bag to block his attempts.”
Ms Devi said the intruder made four attempts to stab her when one of her grandchildren woke up to the commotion and yelled out to her uncle who was sleeping in the next room.
“I kept holding onto his hand as hard as
I could but on his last try, it had nearly pierced my right thigh and it has left a scar,” she said.
By the time Ms
Devi’s son ran out to her aid, the man had turned and fled the scene leaving behind his flip flops. According to Ms Devi, the matter was reported to the Valelevu Police Station. She said the Police went to her home to take her statement.
“There is no street light here and it becomes a very dark place at night and because of that some residents have being robbed and hassled along the way,” Ms Devi said.
Most of the residents of Kali Place have echoed the same call for Police patrol and street lights to light up the dark alley.
Fiji National University student Rajendra Deo, 21, is also renting with his sister at Kali Place and said that he was saving up so he could buy solar lights to install around their compound for their own safety at night. “My sister is a nurse and because of her working schedule, every morning around 4am I have to walk with her to the main road and wait for transport and do the same when she knocks off from work late at night,” he said.
“And it is also because of the road condition here that drivers are hesitant to bring passengers right into people’s compounds,” Mr Deo said.
With the poor road condition, residents are taking matters into their own hands by pitching in money to allow work for proper roads.
Fiji Sun noticed a sign board at Kali Place saying residents are requested to pay $20 each to help in fixing the road condition.
The initiative will then allow drivers to drop passengers off without hassle and prevent people from being robbed along the alley.”