Mumbai Mirror

When the three thieves barged into her Chembur house on Saturday and attacked her mother and siblings, a fearless 17-year-old Srishti Jain just jumped on one of them and started punching him; the shocked thieves ran off; passers-by caught one of them

Mumbai, Nov 5: The only ‘fights’ in 17-year-old Srishti Jain’s life till now had been with her two younger siblings. But on Saturday November 3 afternoon, she got into the fight of her life when she fearlessly took on three armed robbers at her Chembur house and chased them off. She even managed to get one of them caught by passers-by and handed over to the police.

Srishti, a Std XII student of Ruia College, Matunga, lives with her parents and siblings in Postal Colony, Chembur.

On Saturday, at around 2 pm while her father Pravin Jain, a jeweller, was away at work, someone claiming to be a courier boy knocked on the door.

As soon as Srishti’s mother Nirmala opened the door, three men, armed with knives and revolvers, pushed her and barged into the house.

While one held Srishti’s younger sister Shreya at gunpoint, another attacked her mother with a knife.

Srishti says, “I was in the bedroom when I heard my mother screaming in the living room. I ran out to find three robbers holding my family hostage. While one of them was knifing my mother, my nine-year-old brother was howling on the sofa. Without stopping to think, I just jumped on the robber attacking my mother and started punching him with all my might. At that moment, I didn’t feel any fear, just anger against the robbers.”

When her punches proved ineffectual, Srishti grabbed the robber’s hair and collar and pulled him off her mother. At this, the robber turned around and attacked Srishti with his knife.

But the brave girl just held on to the knife with her bare hands and got into a scuffle with him. All the while, she kept up her shouts for help.

Caught off guard by Srishti’s unexpected retaliation, two of the robbers had already run off.

When the third one who had attacked Srishti tried to run away, a crowd that had gathered outside the house pounced on him and handed him over to the police.

Senior Inspector of Chembur police station, Balasaheb D Pachundkar, says, “Srishti is a brave girl and resisted the robbers with great courage. We have caught one of the robbers and are on the lookout for the other two.”

The police are now planning to felicitate Srishti for her bravery. Joint CP (Law & Order) K L Prasad told Mumbai Mirror, “It’s a deserving case and I will make sure that the girl is rewarded for her rare display of courage.”