Road rage: Car passengers assault woman, techie near Kakkanad

Kochi: In a road rage incident, a woman and her friend were brutally assaulted by two unidentified car passengers in broad daylight near Kakkanad along the Seaport-Airport road. According to cops, the incident happened at 5.30 pm on Thursday when Aswini, a research scholar at the Kerala University campus, Karyavattom, and her friend Shambu, an IT employee at Infopark, were waiting to cross the road near Max showroom along the Seaport-Airport Road.

“A car sped dangerously past them while the two were waiting to cross the road and a shocked Shambu gestured with his hand in protest. The passengers in the ‘Etios Liva’ car hit the brakes and took a U-turn and rushed towards them. The two occupants inside the car jumped out and started verbally abusing him. When Shambu protested the use of foul language they pushed him aside and he fell down,” said Mr Shaju A N, sub-inspector of police, Thrikkakara.

According to the complaint filed by the duo, the car passengers then turned to Aswini and allegedly tried to molest her. When Shambu tried to save her, one of the accused “jabbed him with a small knife while the other held his hands tightly from behind”. “The girl suffered scratches on her forearm while her friend got multiple injuries with a sharp object on his hand and is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital,” police said.

Though the victims gave the car registration number, the accused are yet to be caught. “Registration number given was found to be that of a motorcycle. Either they got the number wrong or it was a fake number. A hunt is on for the accused,” Shaju said. A case under IPC Sections 323 (voluntary causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 341 (wrongful restraint) were lodged against the unidentified persons.