Delhi: 65-year-old woman attempts an axe attack inside metro over seating argument

A 65-year-old woman on 14 December, at Delhi's Qutub Minar Metro station, tried launching an attack on a fellow passenger with an axe over a seating argument.

The woman when attacked, was overpowered by other passengers and was handed over to CISF personnel at Ghitorni. However, instead of probing into the matter and detaining the accused, the personnel let her go with a warning after seizing the axe.

According to Renu Sukhija, an eye-witness, the accused had boarded the women-only compartment of a Gurgaon-bound train at Qutub Minar Metro station.

Times of India quoted Sukhija as saying, "While looking for a seat, she spotted a 32-year-old woman sitting on a seat reserved for the elderly. She first asked the woman to vacate the seat for her, but when this was met with a flat refusal, the elderly woman slapped her."

Sukhija and her friend Najiba Kazmi tried intervening and requested the woman to not indulge in any fight inside the metro. Enraged by the intervention, the accused took out an axe from her bag and tried attacking Kazmi.

Following the incident, the woman was deboarded with the help of CISF security staff. On the basis of a complaint filed by Kazmi, the CISF has initiated a probe.

TOI quoted a security personnel as saying, "We are probing the incident as it is a serious lapse on the part of the security personnel at the entry point of the Metro station."

"If needed, action will be taken against the security officials who failed to prevent the entry of the accused woman with an axe in her bag," said a CISF officer.

Sukhija also criticised the security set-up that had failed to detect a potential weapon. "How could the accused woman enter the Metro station and board the train with an axe in her bag? And why did the CISF let the woman go after we had handed her over to them?" she said.