A Sacred Weapon in a Savage Attack: How a Trishul Saved a Clare Estate Family

What began as a quiet New Year’s Day for the Gounden family in Clare Estate, Durban, descended into a bloody battle for survival, culminating in an act of desperate defense rooted in faith. When a gang of drunken men launched a vicious assault on the family, it was a sacred brass trishula Hindu trident symbolizing the goddess Kaliwielded by 20-year-old Mika Gounden that became their instrument of salvation.

The nightmare started around 2 PM on January 1. After parents Kajol Gounden and Vinod Gunpath left briefly, a group of men drinking outside their property turned violent, threatening the family dog and exposing themselves to the daughters. Upon the parents’ return, the situation exploded.

A Seven-Minute Onslaught

“They jammed the gate… started swearing and threw a boulder at me,” recalled Kajol. The attack escalated rapidly. The family was pelted with bricks and boulders, stabbed, and beaten as the assailants tried to steal jewellery. In a moment of pure terror, Kajol watched as her 15-year-old daughter, Krishalya, was dragged by six men, her clothes ripped from her body.

“I feared that my daughter would be dragged out onto the road and kidnapped or worse,” she said.

“I Drew Strength from Mother Goddess Kali”

It was then that Mika, seeing her family being overwhelmed, ran to the home’s prayer area. She grabbed the generational trishul, still adorned with ceremonial lime and berry leaves. “I kept lunging at them to drive them out of the yard,” Mika described. “I drew my strength from the mother Goddess Kali. One of the men stabbed me in my hand, but I kept trying to fight them off.”

Her courageous intervention, channeling the trishul as a physical and spiritual weapon, helped ward off the attackers long enough for the family to retreat and call for help. Police did not answer; aid finally came via a local community activist who alerted security companies, by which time the gang had fled.

A Frightening New Pattern?

The traumatized family, all bearing serious injuries, now questions their safety. Their ordeal is not isolated. Just two weeks prior, two elderly sisters in the same area were tied up and robbed by men described as drinking outside their homea strikingly similar modus operandi.

Vincent Chetty of the Clare Estate Action Committee confirmed the pattern is causing deep concern. “Residents are being attacked and robbed at their doorsteps in broad daylight… We are concerned about this becoming a trend.”

The case has been reported to police, but no arrests have been made. For the Gounden family, New Year’s Day 2026 will forever be marked not by celebration, but by the memory of a brutal invasion and the divine symbol that helped them fight back. Their story is a harrowing testament to both the vulnerability of homes and the fierce, faith-fueled resilience that can emerge in the fight to protect them.

{Source: IOL}

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