KOCHI: Women, especially girls, who travel alone in autorickshaws, beware. You may not know when the auto driver turns a predator. A young woman belonging to Malabar, who came to Ernakulam on Wednesday morning, had a horrifying experience when she travelled by an autorickshaw around 6 in the morning. She got down at Edapally bus stop and hailed the autorickshaw to go to a hostel on the Chandrathil Extension Road.
When the auto reached a lonely place, the driver stopped the vehicle, got out of it and tried to grab the woman. When she screamed in fright, he tried to smother her with a pillow he had with him. However, she pushed him out and shouted for help. The driver fled the scene leaving the pillow behind. The woman took refuge in a house and the people there alerted the police and Nirbhaya authorities.
The Elamakkara police reached the place and examined the CCTV visuals of the buildings nearby, but did not get any clue. The frightened woman had not noted down the auto number. She did not want to register a case either as she was hoping to go abroad for a job soon. The police have asked the passengers to take the mobile photos of the auto’s registration number and other details displayed in the vehicle for easy identification of such criminal drivers.