KOLKATA: Traumatised but not ready to bow down after being attacked by two miscreants on Sunday night,
Alok Ranjan Chakrabarty (68) is determined to return home once he is discharged from the hospital. But his daughter, who lives in the US, wants her parents to leave the place fearing for their safety.
Chakrabarty and his wife,
Ratna, sustained injuries fighting their assaulters, who had broken into their two-storey house in Teghoria. Though the miscreants fled as the neighbours rushed for help, Chakrabarty sustained a head injury and his wife had to undergo a hip-joint surgery.
“I am not the type of person who gets intimidated by such acts. But the incident has scared my wife. My daughter, too, is concerned about our safety,” Chakrabarty told TOI.
Their daughter
Moumita suggested that the elderly couple sells off the property and moves to her flat, which is also in Teghoria. The retired Air India executive is now caught between his daughter’s concern, wife’s trauma and his determination to defy the attackers’ intimidation.
“We have been living here for more than three decades. We were the first to settle in this locality when it used to be surrounded by huge paddy fields. We never felt unsafe here and have a lot of fond memories. But Sunday’s incident has left my family nervous,” he added.
Nature lovers, the couple have a mini fruit orchard at the rear of their house. Chakrabarty is also known to be vocal about civic and social issues. While the authorities often responded to the issues raised by him, sometimes he would earn the ire of antisocials.
Ratna, a retired school headmistress, continues to be in the
ICU. Chakrabarty is on conservative treatment after receiving six stitches on his head. Police are yet to make a breakthrough even after interrogating a number of people.
Alok Ranjan Chakrabarty with his wife Ratna