‘He grabbed my neck… I jumped off moving vehicle’: Woman molested by auto driver near Delhi’s IGI stadium

The woman told The Indian Express that the incident took place when she was travelling in the autorickshaw, and the driver said he needed to stop to answer nature’s call.

The police said they were informed at around 6.40 am after the woman stopped a passer-by and called them. (Representational image)

A 23-year-old assistant manager working with a public sector bank was allegedly molested and robbed by an autorickshaw driver near Indira Gandhi International Stadium in Central Delhi early Monday morning. The woman said she got into a scuffle with the man when he grabbed her, and that she also tried to stop him, but he managed to flee with her phone. By Monday night, police had arrested the accused, Gopal (28), from his house in Kardampuri.

Police said they were informed around 6.40 am after the woman stopped a passerby and made a PCR call.

DCP (Central district) Shweta Chauhan said, “We immediately rushed to the spot after she made the call. We recorded her statement and took details of the auto from the regional transport office (RTO). We found that it was initially purchased by a man but was resold several times. We have arrested the accused, Gopal, and recovered the victim’s phone from his possession.”

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The woman told The Indian Express that the incident took place when she was travelling in the autorickshaw, and the driver said he needed to stop to answer nature’s call. “I was sitting inside and, within minutes, he came back and grabbed me. I was shocked and told him to stop, but he continued to misbehave. I punched him and started screaming for help,” she said.

She said that at one point, he began choking her and she stopped resisting, pleading with him to not kill her. But, she said, she mustered courage and started punching him. “He tried to grab my neck, but I was wearing a jacket and a scarf, so he was not able to grip it. At one point he slipped, and I immediately started kicking and punching him. He got scared and began to drive. I was still inside the auto and he threatened me that now he would kill me,” she said.

“I tried to stop him but he scratched my face. He accelerated… I jumped off the moving vehicle as it briefly slowed down after 500 metres. I was lucky… He fled with my bag which had my phone,” she said.

The woman’s mother told The Indian Express that her daughter is posted at a bank in Uttar Pradesh, and had returned to Delhi two weeks ago after testing positive for Covid: “She had just recovered and was returning to work. I went with her outside my home, from where she had boarded the auto for Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station after paying Rs 200. There was dense fog, and I took a picture of the vehicle and asked my daughter to be in touch on the phone.”

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“She was taken to IP Estate police station and she informed me about the incident. We provided all pictures to the police,” her mother added.

Mahender Singh Manral

Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security. Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat. During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read More

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