In a real life drama with all the trappings of a thriller, a web chat between a woman in Kerala and her sister-in-law in Canada saved the life of the latter and her eight-month-old baby from a dagger-wielding intruder who broke into her Toronto apartment.
It all started when Asha Madathil of Kozhikode was engaged in a web chat on June 16 with her sister-in-law Poornima, who lives in Toronto.
As the chat went on, Asha heard doorbell of the apartment of her sister-in-law ringing, which was followed by her loud cry on seeing the intruder.
For a few minutes, Asha was in a haze. But she soon recovered her presence of mind.
She first informed an uncle of Poornima in the town of what was happening to his niece in Toronto, Asha told PTI recalling the sequence of events.
"As the webcam was facing the main door, the whole thing could be seen by Asha on the computer screen as if it was a film. As Poornima unlocked the main door of her apartment, a man in black T-shirt and trousers, barged into the flat and dragged her inside the room as the screaming woman cried out for help with the baby on the floor," Asha said.
The stout man then asked Poornima to part with valuables as the hapless woman gave him two laptops and a camera. The man, while searching the apartment for costly things, had threatened to kill the baby and Poornima.
On seeing the computer on, the man was heard asking Poornima "is it kept on to trap me?" and then he switched it off.
The diversion helped Poornima in giving a slip to the robber and run out of her house to raise an alarm. Sensing trouble, the man escaped using another exit door.
"I was in total darkness for a while. Recovering from the shock, I alerted Sreekumar, an uncle of Poornima's husband here. Acting swiftly, the family members contacted Poornima's neighbour in Toronto, who in turn alerted her husband," Asha said.
On being informed by the husband, a team of Canadian police visited Poornima's apartment. "The police is still on the look out for the man," Asha said.
"I truly regret for not being able to record the incident as that could have helped the police track down the culprit easily," she said.
