Delhi: Woman falls from cycle rickshaw during snatching bid in Dilshad Garden

The woman was near Sai Chowk in Dilshad Garden, nearly half a kilometre away from home, when the snatchers targeted her around 7.30am on Sunday. This is the second such crime reported in the city in the last 10 days

New Delhi: A 22-year-old woman working with a private company in Noida suffered injuries to her knees and hands as she fell from a moving cycle rickshaw while trying to fight off two bike-borne men who allegedly snatched her phone on a busy road in northeast Delhi’s Dilshad Garden on Sunday morning.

The incident is the latest in a series of snatching cases in which the victims suffered fatal or serious injuries. (Picture for representation only)

The incident, which is the latest in a series of snatching cases in which the victims suffered fatal or serious injuries, is the second such crime reported in the city in the last 10 days.

According to Delhi Police data, the city reported 5,108 snatching cases till August 15 this year -- 851 more than what was reported during the same period in 2020. Statistics show that at least one person became a victim of snatching every hour, and at least one robbery was reported every four hours in Delhi till August 15.

On October 22, a 41-year-old woman from Darjeeling fractured her collarbone, and her 48-year-old friend and the driver of the autorickshaw they were travelling in suffered injuries after the vehicle overturned as she tried to fight off two men on a bike who snatched her phone on the Sarai Kale Khan flyover in south Delhi.

In the latest case on Sunday, the woman, Lovely Gupta, left her Dilshad Garden home and boarded a cycle rickshaw to head to Jhilmil Metro station, from where she was supposed to board a Metro train to reach her office in Noida. She was near Sai Chowk in Dilshad Garden, nearly half a kilometre away from home -- when the snatchers targeted her around 7.30am.

In her complaint to the station house officer (SHO), Gupta said the two men came on a bike from behind and started riding next to the rickshaw. “Suddenly, the pillion rider tried to snatch my phone. I was shocked by the sudden attack and tried to defend myself. But he pulled me by force, snatched my phone and sped away. Meanwhile, I fell on the road and yelled for help, but no one came to my aid,” said Gupta in her complaint filed on Monday, a day after the incident.

Gupta’s mother, Radha, said that a gym trainer who was passing by stopped and helped her daughter.

She used his phone to call the police, but left before they arrived as she had to rush to her office for an important meeting, her mother said.

“My daughter also informed us about the incident using the gym trainer’s phone. When she returned home in the night, I asked her about her injuries and if she had visited any hospital. She had suffered injuries to her knees and hands. Her pair of jeans was also torn near the knees because of the fall... My daughter told me that she had taken medical attention at the office itself,” said Radha.

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said that a police team reached the crime scene immediately after the call. Not finding the victim there, the police dialled the mobile number from which she had made the call and was informed that the victim had borrowed the phone.

The next day, Gupta filed a complaint at the GTB Enclave police station.

“We immediately converted her complaint into a first information report (FIR) and formed teams to identify and nab the suspects. We are contacting the complainant again to ask for her medical examination so that the nature of her injuries can be ascertained. Our teams are scanning the CCTV footage from near the crime scene. In one footage, the suspects are seen wearing helmets and riding a black bike,” said DCP Sathiyasundaram.

In her complaint, Gupta said claimed that the streets have become unsafe: “It seems such miscreants have no fear of the local police. To avoid such situations, I never walk on the road and always hire a rickshaw, but we are not safe even then. I request you to kindly take note of my complaint and do your best to get hold of these culprits and my phone so that girls like me get some sense of security.”

In a series on street crimes in Delhi in March, HT reported that most snatchers in the city are unemployed, illiterate or school drop-outs. Snatching is considered a gateway crime to more serious offences.

Analysis of police data shows that of the snatchers arrested in 2020, almost 43.71% (2,840) were illiterate or school drop-outs (did not clear Class 5). In fact, only 10 of the arrested had graduate degrees. The data also showed that mobile phones were the most common item snatched — at least 71% (5,655) of the cases -- followed by gold jewellery (15% cases).