by India Today World Desk: An elderly Australian woman with dementia has been admitted to hospital with life-threatening injuries after being tasered by police at a care home.
The woman, identified by the media as Claire Nowland, was thrashed on Wednesday after holding a steak knife at an aged care home in Cooma, about 300km south-west of Sydney, The Independent reported.
Noland is in critical condition at the hospital, fading in and out of consciousness. This incident has created panic among the people. Australian authorities have launched a high-profile investigation into the matter.
read | 4-year-old accidentally hangs himself in Ukraine park while staff ‘were looking at their phones’
Police were called to the care home after staff found Nowland with a kitchen knife. The officers asked him to drop the knife for several minutes. When Nowland did not comply, an officer stunned her with a Taser, whereupon she fell to the ground and hit her head.
The Independent quoted New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter as saying, “At the time she was stabbed, she was making contact with police, but it would be fair to say she was slow.”
The officer who fired the Taser has been suspended and a serious incident level inquiry has been launched against him.
Cotter said, “the incident was recorded on body cameras, but due to the ongoing investigation it was not in the public interest to release the footage”.
read | Ukraine’s president leads diplomatic campaign against Russia at Arab summit, G7