On Dashami, Jammu housewife kills jihadi with axe

JAMMU: As the country bid farewell to goddess Durga, the demon-slayer, on Dashami and witnessed the evil king Ravana being vanquished on Dussehra, a humble Muslim woman in a remote Jammu village slew a dreaded Lashkar terrorist single-handedly. 

Exhibiting astonishing, raw courage, Rashida Begum took on the two terrorists who had barged into her home late Sunday night in Thana Mandi village in Rajouri district. The woman, in her early forties, grabbed an axe and swung it wildly, killing one of the armed terrorists and injuring the other. Seeing his partner meet a bloody end, the other terrorist fled in sheer dread. 

A Rajouri-based police officer said the two terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group that carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, had entered Noor Ahmad's home around 9pm with the intention of holding the family hostage. 

Police said the two also wanted information on some local targets that Noor and his family members refused to provide. Angered by the resistance, the two began beating them up, threatening to eliminate the family, when Noor's wife, Rashida, took them by surprise, pouncing on one of them from behind. She brought down an axe in powerful blows, killing the terrorist on the spot. 

She then charged at his partner who, nonplussed, was trying to gather his wits. Rashida and the rest of the family members soon overpowered him and snatched his weapon. However, the terrorist escaped under the cover of darkness, but not before receiving sharp cuts in the face-off with the furious housewife. 

Rajouri's additional superintendent of police Shabir Ahmed said investigations were on establish to identity of the duo but the slain terrorist was believed to be Osama, a Pakistan-based LeT commander, wanted in many cases of extortion and terror related activities. ``We are awaiting more details from the spot where a police team is carrying out further investigation,'' Ahmed said. Security forces are combing the area for the escaped terrorist.