Robber8217;s bullet hits wrong target

October 24: When Laxmi Kashinath More stepped out of her hutment in Nehru Nagar slums in Vile Parle West, she expected to reach the housing colony where she works as a domestic servant in less than 15 minutes. Now, she won8217;t reach her destination for many days. Laxmi lies in the orthopedic ward of the R N Cooper hospital, a bullet embedded in her thigh.

Laxmi was the innocent victim of a robbery bid which took place at Vile Parle last evening. Five persons armed with choppers and a pistol accosted businessman Anand Ganaiya and his partner Vijay Thakkar, owners of Economic Hardware Centre at around 8.15 pm. They tried to snatch his briefcase containing the day8217;s earnings of Rs 35,000. When bystanders tried to prevent the crime, one of the robbers fired a shot at Ganaiya, which found its target in Laxmi instead.

Laxmi8217;s case contradicts the Mumbai police8217;s claim that the common man is unaffected by the spate of crime sweeping the city. An X-ray shows that the bullet is embedded near her hip, which is likely to render her immobile for days to come. Yet, Laxmi8217;s injuries go far beyond the physical.

A mother of six children, five of them girls, she is worried about the cost of the treatment and how she will now run her household. Her husband, a mill worker, stands by her silently, seemingly afraid to speak, weighed down, perhaps, by the emotional and financial trauma she and her family is undergoing for absolutely no fault of their8217;s. When one of her employers came to visit her, Laxmi was on the verge of tears, 8220;When will I be able to come to work?8221; she wonders.