Vadodara: A house-help allegedly attacked and robbed an 81-year-old woman at her bungalow in a residential colony early Wednesday morning. Manjalpur police arrested the accused, identified as Savita Rathod, a resident of Makarpura, within hours of the incident and recovered the stolen gold ornaments worth Rs 1.70 lakh.According to police, the incident occurred around 5.30am on Wednesday at Jagannath Puram Society. Rathod allegedly entered the bungalow of Leela Patel on Tuesday evening and hid on the first floor through the night.“On Wednesday morning, Rathod came downstairs and attacked Patel while she was sleeping in her room,” police said.Patel, who was caught unawares, tried to resist, but Rathod allegedly assaulted her with a stick and bit her. She then allegedly snatched Patel’s gold bangles and fled.Patel informed her neighbours and the police, following which a complaint of robbery was registered. CCTV footage from the residential colony showed Rathod entering Patel’s bungalow, helping police identify and trace her.“We tracked down Rathod within hours of the incident and recovered all the stolen ornaments. She had committed a similar offence in the Manjalpur area around two years ago,” said K H Chaudhary, Manjalpur police inspector.Police said Rathod had also allegedly stolen gold ornaments from Patel’s house four months ago, but Patel had not filed a complaint at the time.“Rathod had worked as a house-help in several houses in Jagannath Puram Society and knew that Patel lived alone in the bungalow,” Chaudhary told TOI.Police said Patel’s husband, a government officer, died around 15 years ago and she had been living alone in the bungalow since then.
