Elderly Tamil Nadu couple who bravely fought armed robbers gets special bravery award

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi Palaniswami on Thursday presented special bravery to the elderly couple who bravely fought armed robbers with plastic chairs and slippers after two miscreants entered their home.

Based on the recommendations of the Tirunelveli district administration, the state government honoured the elderly couple during the Independence Day celebrations.

Speaking to the media after receiving the award, 70-year-old Shanmugavel said, "We are very happy and honoured to receive the award from the state government. We thank the police for swiftly acting on our complaint. We hope we will be an inspiration to the youngsters".

In the video, which has gone viral on social media, 70-year-old Shanmugavel, sitting in the porch of his house, reaches out to pick a paper. This is when a masked man comes from behind and puts a piece of cloth around the neck of the man in an attempt to strangulate him.

#WATCH Tamil Nadu: An elderly couple fight off two armed robbers who barged into the entrance of their house & tried to strangle the man, in Tirunelveli. The incident took place on the night of August 11. (date and time mentioned on the CCTV footage is incorrect) pic.twitter.com/zsPwduW916 ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2019

An unsuspecting Shanmugavel fights off the machete-wielding man with the cloth still around his neck. As he struggles, shouts and kicks the man, his wife comes out running. This is when another intruder is seen in the CCTV footage.

Without wasting any time, Shanmugavel's wife Senthamarai starts throwing slippers at the two intruders as her husband struggles to break free.

From chairs to a stool, she then starts throwing everything she could find at the house entrance.

As a slipper hits one of the intruders, Shanmugavel frees himself, gets up and takes on the two miscreants. He kicks them, throws a chair at them even as the intruders try to scare the couple with sickle and machete.

At one point, the elderly man continues to fight the armed robber with a broken chair as his wife threw one chair after another on the other.

Not ready for this struggle, one of the robbers backs off while the second continues to threaten the couple. However, the relentless elderly couple manages to scare off the robbers who then flee the house.

Police said an FIR has been filed but the accused haven't been identified and arrested yet.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Elderly Tamil Nadu couple bravely fights armed robbers with slippers, plastic chair

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