Two years ago, she had lost belongings in similar incident

Over the last few years, snatchers have been turning violent while targeting people on Delhi’s streets. In previous snatchings in which auto-rickshaw passengers have been targeted, a woman was left dead, one went into coma and several others left with severe injuries.

When Asha Mehra travels in an auto-rickshaw, she ensures that she sits in the middle of the seat, does not use her mobile phone and keep her handbag strapped firmly around her hand.

When Asha Mehra travels in an auto-rickshaw, she ensures that she sits in the middle of the seat, does not use her mobile phone and keep her handbag strapped firmly around her hand. (HT Photo)

So, when two motorcycle-borne snatchers tried to snatch her handbag in east Delhi’s Geeta Colony on Friday, they were in for a tough tug-of-war. The confrontation ended in 33-year-old Mehra retaining her bag, but fracturing her arm after falling off the moving auto-rickshaw in the struggle.

On Sunday, Mehra said the measures she takes while travelling in an auto-rickshaw come from experience — in August 2017, at around the same time, she had lost a bag and mobile phone in a similar incident.

In that case too, she had boarded an auto-rickshaw from ITO to Gandhi Nagar. The next thing she remembered was waking up in a hospital with a black eye and bruises to her limbs.

“I was found lying unconscious on the ITO flyover. Passing commuters had taken me to the hospital then,” said Mehra, who designs garments in east Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. “The police suspected that the auto driver had knocked me unconscious using some intoxicant. I never recovered my bag or phone and the case was never solved. The culprit had used my credit card to make a transaction worth Rs 3,000. I had lost hope after the local police’s lack of sensitivity.”

Mehra said she is now going to add one more change to her travelling rules. “I had been choosing auto-rickshaws over cabs because of the notoriety of cab drivers. But I will now travel by cab so that snatchers can’t target me or my belongings,” she said.

Over the last few years, snatchers have been turning violent while targeting people on Delhi’s streets. In previous snatchings in which auto-rickshaw passengers have been targeted, a woman was left dead, one went into coma and several others left with severe injuries.

Last year, 6,932 cases of snatching were registered in Delhi, an average of 19 cases every day. But these are mostly those snatchings in which the culprits do not use force. Since these cases are registered under Indian Penal Code section 379 (theft), the maximum punishment for a convict is three years, but can also be let off with just a fine. “When a weapon, or force of any kind, is used during a snatching, we have been registering those crimes under sections pertaining to robbery. We are doing this to ensure that the criminals get longer prison terms, if convicted,” said a senior police officer.