“ Yeh autowala sunischit karta hai aurat ki suraksha aur samman [This auto-rickshaw driver ensures a woman’s safety and honour]”. The statement scribbled in red ink behind many auto-rickshaws waiting outside a Saket mall is a reassuring one for any women in Delhi, especially in the light of the second anniversary of the December 16 gang rape, and few days after the Uber cab rape case.
Turns out, this is just another statement.
At 8.30 p.m., the auto-rickshaws drivers refuse to go to Palam, where the 23-year-old victim lived. On that unfortunate night too, auto-rickshaw drivers had refused to ferry them.
Things are no different at the Munirka bus stand, from where the woman and her male friend had boarded the ill-fated bus. Sandwiched between a small dhalao , DDA flats in the backdrop and PWD construction in the front, the bus stand looks barren with no streetlight at 10 p.m.
Auto-rickshaws crossing the bus stand are few and those who “oblige” by stopping refuse to go to the desired destination.
“How do you expect me to go to Palam? I have already worked for 12 hours today. So what if it is dark? I also have to go home. Look for auto on night shift,” said one auto-rickshaw driver at Munirka.
Few metres away from here is another bus stand, where a motley crowd waits for buses, RTVs and phat-phat sewa as late as 10 p.m. Girls at that bus stand are considered “easily available”. Some cars stop by and occupants make weird gestures, which the girls ignore. There is no PCR van in sight despite girls being at such risk in the area.
By this hour, most of the auto-rickshaw drivers are drunk, even those on the night shift. An auto-rickshaw driver stops to ferry passengers, but starts blabbering about fights at home. What’s more, they do not fear being challaned.
“Go ahead and complain to the police,” says one.
Police says it has challaned 7,742 auto-rickshaw drivers for refusal to ferry passengers and 1,737 for overcharging and misbehaviour from January 1 to November 30.
On turning left from the bus stand starts the Nelson Mandela Marg. It is a long stretch with plush shopping malls on one side. The height of the streetlights is too high and the lights too dim. All the glamour and activity remains confined to the road near the mall and it starts thinning by 9 p.m. The other side of the road is thick bushes and the Aravallis. The auto-rickshaw drivers refuse to ferry passengers beyond Chattarpur metro station or nearby localities like Vasant Kunj, etc.
No PCR van can be spotted on the entire stretch at 10.30 p.m. On taking a right and moving ahead, comes Mahipalpur. During the day, vehicles trail between the unaesthetically arranged shops selling locally made footwear and clothes. Even at 10 p.m. the area is active.
But finding an auto-rickshaw to reach a destination as close as Palam is a task. At the nearby Delhi Aerocity metro station, taxis and autos demand Rs.200 for a distance as short as 6 k.m. No amount of pleas by a girl at the late hour is enough to melt their heart.
The woman and her friend were dumped, not very far from here.
