It had been one and a half weeks since Aastha Singh had started running as a part of her fitness regime in the morning. August 26 felt no different as this resident of Sector 3 in Ghaziabad Vasundhara went on her daily morning run.
Around the time she reached Budh Chowk area she noticed a man get down from an auto and walk towards her, but she didn’t find it unnatural till he snatched her phone. "The decision to chase the man was instinctive," says the 19-year-old Delhi University student, who after getting hold of the man, knocked him down and delivered several blows, injuring her knee in the tussle.
"I dragged him by his collar to the nearest police post but unfortunately it was locked. A media person who happened to be cycling by, called the PCR van. A kid, about 12 years old, helped me get the phone that was by then broken," he added.
While the PCR van was quick to reach the spot, the man escaped, crossed the road and jumped into an auto. "I boarded the van with two police officials and we pursued the auto for another kilometre. Near Sahibabad, he deboarded and ran. Leaving the van on the road, we chased him in the congested area. It was a typical Bollywood chase," says Singh.
At the end, they nabbed the snatcher. Singh's concerned parents are now a little apprehensive about her going out for her morning run. However, she is not ready to give up. "I am little hurt so I will wait for a week to resume my daily run but I will," she adds.
Singh doesn’t have any formal training in self-defence, except for a few Taekwondo classes during her school days. "I was working out at home ever since the lockdown started and that gave me the stamina to chase the man," she says.
A second year BA student from the Hindu College, Singh has her goals set for her future. "I want to study law from DU and become a judge one day. It’s a dream that my father and I share," she adds. Also, she wishes to open a training centre for self-defence.