Delhi: Woman journalist out for evening walk attacked, suffers brain injuries

New Delhi: A 45-year-old journalist sustained serious injuries in an attack by unidentified persons when she was out for a walk at a park in Bharat Nagar area of northwest Delhi, police said on Thursday.

The incident happened last evening when Aparna Kalra had gone for a routine walk to Picnic Hut -- a popular park in the area which is usually crowded with walkers around that time.

"She went for an evening walk everyday to the park which is two minutes away from her home. She would leave around 6-6.15 pm every day and return around 7 pm before it got dark," her maternal uncle H C Bhatia said.

On Wednesday, after she left to the park at around her usual time, the scribe's family received a call at around 7.30 pm from Deep Chand Hospital and police, saying that she had been brought to the hospital in an injured condition.

On reaching the hospital, the family found her unconscious, severely bleeding from the head and nose. She regained consciousness just long enough to tell police that she had been attacked.

She was later referred to Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, where she underwent cranial surgery last night.

Fortis hospital sources said Kalra was "currently stable", but as she underwent a critical surgery, her situation is being monitored.

"She has sustained severe injuries to her brain and skull. She was hit with iron rods and parts of her skull have been reduced to powder," said her uncle, adding that the doctors have asked them to wait and watch.

So far, no eyewitnesses have come forward to share details about the attack and her family members are also clueless about any possible motive, police said.

Robbery doesn't appear to be a motive behind the attack since she was neither wearing any jewellery nor carrying her cellphone or any valuable at the time of the attack, police said.

The journalist has been employed with leading dailies and was freelancing for the last year or so.