'Stop! Or I will kill my mother'

Date:  2011-04-20
Place: Mumbai

Says man who held his own mother at knifepoint to escape cops who had come to arrest him for assaulting his teenaged daughters and wife
As bizarre as it sounds, but a man did hold his own mother at knifepoint to escape a team of policemen that landed at his door to arrest him. The strange story unfolded in the quaint neighbourhood of Orlem, Malad, when the shrieks of Maria Rodrigues (name changed) and her daughters were heard in the neighbourhood. It so happened that Joseph (50), her husband, had come to her house and was trying to forcibly take their daughters back with him. When they refused to accompany him, he began to assault Maria and the girls. In a fit of rage, Joseph then locked up the trio and fled the scene.

Illustration/Jishu Dev Malakar
Maria, on the other hand, feeling helpless at being locked up called the cops. A team of policemen reached the spot and unlocked the door. When Maria narrated the entire incident to the cops, they set off to pick up Joseph from his residence in Orlem. However, when the cops reached Joseph's house, he panicked. He picked up a kitchen knife and held it to his mother's throat. He threatened the cops that he would 'kill his mother', if the cops tried to arrest him. Not wanting to take any chances, the cops backed off and let Joseph have his way. During the course of investigation, the cops learnt that Joseph was a habitual alcoholic and fed up of his vagabond ways Maria has separated from him. However, Joseph would continue to harass her and last week he lost his temper and after assaulting Maria, he locked her up.

Bizarre! Before holding his mother hostage, Joseph had locked his
wife in her apartment after she refused to let go of her daughters.
Evading arrest
After escaping from the clutches of the cops, Joseph began to use a red beacon on his car to avoid checks at naaka bandis. He also purchased a leather gun holster to pose as a policeman on duty for a high-ranking officer. His con was successful for a week as he was able to avoid all checkpoints. However, yesterday Joseph's luck ran out when a senior cop spotted him at a naaka bandi in Orlem and nabbed him.
"We were about to let the vehicle pass, as we thought it belonged to a senior official. But as the car passed, one of the officers recognised Joseph in the driver's seat and caught him," said police inspector Vasant Patil.
When he was questioned about the red beacon, Joseph claimed to be a member of a political party.
"On searching the vehicle we also found a leather revolver holster from the car. He has been arrested for pointing knife at his mother, assaulting his wife and kids and also misusing the beacon light," Patil added.