By Catherine Best
February 01, 2008
A MELBOURNE grandmother attacked by an intruder kept silent about her serious injuries for nine days after he threatened to come back and kill her.
Josephine Cesnick, 76, finally called an ambulance when the pain from her injuries became unbearable, but despite undergoing surgery there are fears she may not survive.
Ms Cesnick was watering in the backyard of her Templewood Crescent home in Avondale Heights on January 20 when she was startled by a balaclava-clad man, who demanded cash. "The victim has said that she didn't have any and the offender has then grabbed the elderly lady around her neck and then made a threat to her not to contact police otherwise he would kill her,'' Detective Acting Sergeant Simon Karp said. "He's then pushed her over which has caused her to fall over and hit her head on the base of a tree.'' Ms Cesnick, who lives alone, suffered severe head injuries and bruising to her neck and leg. But while the injuries caused severe headaches, she was so scared that she suffered in silence for nine days until the pain became unbearable and she called an ambulance.
Ms Cesnick was admitted on Tuesday to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where she remains in a critical condition after undergoing surgery. Police have indicated she may not survive. "We've notified the homicide squad, they are monitoring her situation at this stage and may take over the investigation,'' Act Det Sgt Karp said. He described the assault as a cowardly and random attack and said police were examining car thefts and burglaries in the area to try to identify the attacker. "It's particularly worrying that someone would target a 76-year-old lady in her home, she lives by herself, obviously is very frail and not able to defend herself. "I've described it as a cowardly attack because there's no reason why you would need to lay hands on a 76-year-old woman.'' The woman's son flew from Sydney last night to be at his mother's bedside. He was too upset to speak to the media today.
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A case like this, makes many of us to call for harsher punishment for cowards like the attacker. A defenceless elderly lady is not going to fight with the intruder. The attack was COWARDLY.
Many elderly lives on their own, and enjoy the freedom and dignity of independent living. However, there will always be criminals targetting these elderly. Perhaps the local community should look into better security for the area.
Very disturbing that one cannot even feel safe in one's backyard.
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