I Was Scared to Drive Through the Place Where Dipti Went Missing

Driving past the same route from where Dipti Sarna went missing, here’s a personal account of how unsafe I felt.

Being stalked can be gut-wrenchingly scary.

Driving back from work on Thursday, I switched on the radio to hear the news about a 25-year-old woman who went missing after taking an autorickshaw from the Vaishali metro station in Ghaziabad on Wednesday night.

I panicked when I realised I was going to pass through the same place in a few minutes. But I convinced myself I was going to be safe.

It was around this time that I noticed a car following me. After this went on for almost 10 minutes I began to freak out. I tried to dodge those four men, who were driving a silver-coloured Santro, but was too nervous to remember to note down the car number.

I drove past it and they turned the lights to high beam. The ordeal just wouldn’t stop and I resorted to driving down roads I didn’t even know very well. When I finally reached my society gate, the car behind me was nowhere in sight. I cannot explain the relief I felt at the moment. All I could think about was getting back home.

Life changes in a matter of seconds. Mine could have. But then I was home, safe.

I think the incident scared me all the more because it occurred just a day after Dipti was found missing from the same area where I live. Dipti has been found but the place continues to make me feel unsafe, even though it’s an area I know well.

Such incidents happen every day. Women are being told about safety devices and services that could help them under such circumstances. But that night, I was so scared that I could do nothing but dodge them till I got home.

But if you’re caught in a situation like this, there are services that could be of great help.

Send an SMS to 7738299899 and get the owner and vehicle details instantly. Type VAHAN space VEHICLE NUMBER and send the SMS to 7738299899.

The incident left me wondering why I’m never sure I’ll reach home safely when I leave my house every day? Why do women generally feel so unsafe driving around in the national capital or taking public transport? Is it because our politicians and policymakers don’t travel by public transport and are not in touch with the ground reality?

With women constituting one half of the electorate, maybe we should ask these questions. More loudly.