Two thieves who tried to rob two elderly women in the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda, thinking they were easy prey, got more than they bargained for when the elder of the two victims, aged 93, valiantly defended herself, a press report said on Wednesday.
The two would-be thieves rang the doorbell where Zoja Popova (93) lives with another woman (85) and attacked the two elderly women as soon as they opened the door.
But Popova showed courage and great presence of mind, and brought one of the robbers to his knees.
”I did what I could,” Popova told Lithuanian daily Lietuvos Rytas.
”What she could” involved grabbing the thief — who at 25 was almost one-quarter her age — by the family jewels and squeezing as hard as she could.
”I pressed as hard as I could and he squealed like an animal,” said Popova, who in her younger years worked as a washer-up in the canteen of a military hospital.
The other robber abandoned his attempt to tie up Popova’s friend and rushed to help his accomplice, but was confronted by Popova’s neighbours who came to find out what all the shouting was about.
The robbers tried to escape through a window, but were caught by private security guards and handed over to the police. — Sapa-AFP