The day was bright and beautiful in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. On such a day like this, no one would expect tragedy to strike. That was why when it did, it left one victim completely stupefied.
The victim in question was mother Irene Cajal, who was walking down the street with her three-month-old daughter Bianca when suddenly she found herself attacked by a random stranger in broad daylight.
“The terrifying scene happened in the central Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Paternal,” said Sun report. “Irene Cajal was knocked to the ground as she fought with the stranger in a desperate bid to stop him running off with her child.”
In a video captured by a CCTV camera, it shows Irene making her way down on the street with her daughter cradled in her arms.
Suddenly a man approaches from behind, catches her by surprise, and tries to snatch her baby away. Thus begin a tussle between the two, knocking Irene to the ground.
Irene screams for help then. Thankfully, an onlooker spots the commotion and starts shouting at the assailant.
Before attracting any more attention, the man flees, taking with him only the baby’s blanket.
“The first thing that came to my head was to start shouting,” Irene said in the Sun report. “I was screaming, ‘My baby, no, my baby, no’ but he kept on pulling harder. A neighbour heard my screams and that’s why he ran away.”
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It is believed that the assailant—who is still at large—followed the Irene and her baby as they got off a bus.
“I think he picked me at random but I really don’t know what was going through his head,” she said. “It was broad daylight and sunny and a beautiful day to go walking. I was running some errands and never imagined for one minute something like this was going to happen.”
Baby Bianca was kept in a hospital for an examination; she was only three-months-and-15-day-old. Thankfully, she only suffered a bump in the head.
Irene’s husband Boris, who acquired the CCTV footage from a friend who had set up the cameras outside his house, said that this incident changed their lives 100 percent.
“I work in the afternoons but on mornings I now have to do the daily errands myself or accompany her,” he said. “How do you get over something like this, a man attacking you from behind and trying to take your child! You can never go out walking at ease again.”
The police are still trying o identify the man who attacked Irene. His motives remain unclear, but it is believed that he went after the child when he found out that Irene hadn’t been carrying any cash or a phone.
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