HYDERABAD: A Class 6 student from Panjeshah escaped an alleged sexual assault by jumping from a moving auto-rickshaw on Tuesday. After she jumped, residents nabbed the driver and took him to the Malakpet police station.
Based on the complaint filed by the survivor’s mother, her 11-year-old daughter usually leaves for school at around 8.30 am and returns home by 4 pm, with her father typically providing the drop-off and pick-up.
On Tuesday, her father went to the school around 4 pm to bring his daughter home. However, a teacher informed him that a test was being conducted and that she had already returned home. Later, around 5.30 pm, the family received a call from the Malakpet police station informing them that their daughter was there.
The girl’s parents immediately went to the station. Upon seeing their daughter, they asked her what had happened. She informed them that she had left school early after her test finished. While she was walking home, an unknown auto-rickshaw driver approached her and claimed her father had sent him to pick her up.
The girl told the driver that her father would never send anyone and that she would walk. She began to walk away, but the driver allegedly threatened her and forcibly made her sit in the vehicle. The girl also mentioned that there was another schoolboy already in the vehicle.
After dropping the boy at his house, the driver did not head towards her home but instead drove fast towards Malakpet. When the girl began to cry, the driver allegedly told her not to cry and to obey his instructions, stating that she must go wherever he took her and do whatever he told her, even if he told her to remove her clothes.
Terrified, the girl managed to jump from the moving auto and run away. Seeing this, passersby chased the driver, caught him and brought him to the Malakpet police station. The girl sustained minor injuries from jumping out of the vehicle. The police have arrested the auto driver.
