Driver attacks woman on scooter in incident of aggression behind the wheel

In an alleged incident of road rage, a popular digital media content author who was riding a scooter with her neighbor’s two young children was attacked on Saturday by a motorist who attempted to overtake her, police said.

The incident occurred around 12.30 pm on the Pashan-Baner Link Road when the elderly motorist was racing behind her for nearly 2 kilometres, desperately trying to overtake her.

The woman, identified as Jerlyn D’Silva, who narrated the incident in a social media video, said she pulled over to the side of the road to give way to him when he suddenly sped ahead of her, turned left and blocked her two-wheeler near Hotel Mahabaleshwar. Enraged, he fell to the ground, lunged at her, pulled her hair and slapped her face, leaving her with a bleeding nose. The accused was joined by his wife, who is also said to have attacked D’Silva before another woman came to her aid while a crowd gathered there.

The victim later managed to take the car keys from the defendant, whose identity is still unknown.

An officer at Chatuhshrungi police station said the victim was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and the accused was arrested.

Later, D’Silva posted an Instagram video in which she is seen visibly shaken, her voice choked and her face covered in blood. “The old man sped through us for 2 km, accelerated, took me aside, got out of the car, hit me twice and pulled my hair. I let him pass and gave him the side but he still hit me. How safe is the city? Why are people behaving like madmen? I don’t know where this is going. He hit me on the face and I started bleeding. I appeal to the Pune police to take as strict action as possible against the attacker,” she said in her video.

Known for his food blogging and coverage of fashion events, hotel openings and other social happenings, D’Silva’s Instagram account has 70,000 followers.

Vijay Kumar Magar, deputy commissioner of police, Zone V, said, “We have received a complaint from D’Silva. Both parties have been asked to investigate and an inquiry has been initiated.”

The incident sparked an uproar on social media; exactly two months after a 17-year-old was involved in a suspected drunken hit-and-run accident with his Porsche that left two people dead, he became the first person to cause a hit-and-run accident.

Last Tuesday, the city was once again rocked by an incident involving a drunk driver. A politician’s son drove his SUV into a poultry truck on the Mundhwa-Manjari road, seriously injuring the driver and his assistant.