Caretaker blinds elderly woman with Harpic, Zandu Balm ‘eye drops’; steals cash, gold jewellery

 

Hyderabad: Police arrested a 32-year-old woman caretaker for allegedly robbing an elderly woman of cash, gold jewellery after blinding her by administering eyedrops, made by mixing bathroom cleaner liquid Harpic and Zandu Balm in water.

The accused P Bhargavi was appointed by the victim Hemavathi’s son to take care of his 73-year-old mother. Since having shifted into Hemavathi’s residence, Bhargavi had been waiting for an appropriate time to steal valuables from the house.

In October last year, Bhargavi offered to put some eyedrops into Hemavathi’s eyes as she was rubbing them. However, instead of actually administering eyedrops, she put a solution made by mixing Harpic, Zandu Balm and water into the elderly woman’s eyes. Four days after this incident, the woman complained of an eye infection to her son who then referred her to a nearby clinic. Seizing the opportunity, Bhargavi stole gold jewellery and around Rs 40,000 from the house.

Meanwhile, Hemavathi’s eyesight continued to worsen due to which her son flew to Hyderabad from London and took his mother to an eye hospital. Upon checking, doctors said that the blindness was caused due to use of a poisonous solution in the eyes.

Hemavathi’s family suspected Bhargavi’s involvement and lodged a complaint with police. Upon police questioning, Bhargavi confessed to the crime.