Duska Aleksic: My nose is broken, my husband has severe head and stomach injuries, I’m afraid to spend the night in my house

Duska Aleksic, who was attacked along with her husband last night in their home in Gracanica, was released from the hospital today. Visibly injured, distressed, and fearful, she explained that one attacker was wearing a mask, and he did not say anything but used hand gestures to indicate he wanted money.

Duska, who underwent a major surgery just three months ago, had her nose broken by the attacker and will require another surgery. Her husband Dragan remains in a hospital in Pristina, and as she recounted, his knee was broken, and he sustained severe injuries to his head and stomach.

"Last night at 10 PM, Dragan heard something. I had just fallen asleep when I heard my husband yelling, 'We don’t have money, we don’t have money.' The attacker shoved him, and Dragan injured his knee – it is either fractured or broken – they cut his ear, and he took a hard blow to the head, as well as to his stomach. I saw that the attacker had a wooden club. He didn’t say a word, just motioned with his hands asking for money. He pushed me aside. We are elderly, we don’t have the strength. I had breast cancer surgery just three months ago. My nose is broken, and once the swelling goes down, I will need surgery," Aleksic said.

As she added, while she was lying in a pool of blood, the attacker searched the house for money and wouldn’t let them reach the phone.

"We saw one person, but we don’t know if someone was waiting for him outside. Neighbors said they didn’t see any cars. He probably jumped over the fence, but we don’t know from which side," Aleksic explained.

She said she fears for her and her husband’s lives.

"We are alone here, and especially after this incident, how are we supposed to sleep here?" she added.

Today, Aleksic was visited by the mayor of Gracanica, Ljiljana Subaric. Subaric said she could not get more details about the case from the Gracanica police station.

"At the Security Council meetings, I always emphasize that the security situation in Gracanica is unstable. What happened last night in Gracanica is a monstrous crime that has disturbed all of us. We haven’t received any information from the police, even though I contacted the commander this morning. He had nothing more to tell me than what was already reported in the media. That is why I came to visit the injured party. People should feel safest in their own homes, but once again, people have been attacked in Gracanica, this time an elderly couple, the Aleksics, with severe physical injuries," Subaric said.

She appealed to the relevant institutions to find and prosecute those responsible.

"I condemn this crime and demand that the responsible institutions quickly find and punish the perpetrator," she emphasized.

The Kosovo Online team reached out to the Gracanica police station for more information, but we were told that "the chief is not here at the moment, and we cannot comment on the case."