NAINITAL/DEHRADUN: A late-night journey to the hills, meant to be a soul-searching retreat in the tranquil surroundings of Nainital, turned into a harrowing fight for survival for a 32-year-old woman who ended up spending the entire night hiding in a forest near Nainital after her taxi driver tried to sexually assault her. According to police, the woman, an avid hiking and mountaineering enthusiast, had reached Haldwani from Delhi by bus around 11.30 pm on Thursday. As she had not made any prior hotel bookings, she planned to look for accommodation after reaching Nainital. From Haldwani, she hired a taxi driven by Deepak Singh Bora (39), a local resident. Since it was her first visit to Nainital, she switched on GPS tracking on her mobile phone to ensure the driver was taking the correct route.
Elaborating on the sequence of events, SSP (Nainital) Manjunath TC told TOI, “Around 1.30 am, she noticed that the driver had diverted onto another road. Sensing something suspicious, she questioned him. Initially, the man ignored her and continued driving. When she confronted him again firmly, he suddenly stopped the car, stepped out, moved towards the rear seat and allegedly tried to rape her.”
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The SSP added, “The woman forcefully kicked the driver in the groin, knocking him off balance. Taking advantage of the brief moment, she immediately jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the nearby forest to escape. Barefoot and with minor injuries sustained during the escape, she managed to remain hidden in the forest till daybreak.”During the struggle, Bora had also snatched her mobile phone, the SSP said. He returned to the spot a few minutes later and searched the surrounding area but failed to find her in the darkness. He then fled the spot with her belongings, the police officer added.The woman’s ordeal ended around 6.30am on Friday when a village woman out to deliver milk spotted her and alerted the village head who informed police. “The woman was safely rescued and taken to a hospital for medical examination. She was later provided counselling,” Manjunath said.A case was subsequently registered against the accused under BNS sections 64 (rape), 309(6) (voluntarily causing hurt during robbery) and 137 (kidnapping). “The accused’s vehicle was tracked through its GPS and CCTV footage from Haldwani. He was arrested shortly thereafter. During questioning, he confessed to the crime. The woman’s mobile phone, which had been taken during the incident, was also recovered. He was produced before a local court and later sent to jail,” the SSP added.Another police officer involved in the probe said the woman told counsellors that while she remained hidden behind a large boulder in the forest overnight, she was aware of “the threat of wild animals in the area but the threat of the man who had tried to assault her was far greater.” She added that she was an avid nature lover, and eventually, Nature had protected her. Her parents reached Nainital and took her back to Delhi on Saturday.
