Silchar Women’s Safety Concerns Rise Amid Alleged Kidnapping Attempt of a Varsity Student

The safety of women in Silchar is under intense scrutiny following two alarming incidents involving harassment and a possible kidnapping attempt. The town, known for its relatively safe environment, is now reeling after these disturbing occurrences, which have sparked outrage and concern among residents. While various NGOs and organizations are protesting and holding candlelight marches in the streets of the town to condemn the heinous crime at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, the safety of women in Silchar has now become a serious concern. Recently, an auto-rickshaw driver was apprehended by the Cachar Police for allegedly flashing his private parts at a female scholar from Assam University, further exacerbating the anxiety felt across the region.
In a separate, equally troubling incident, another student from Assam University experienced what appeared to be a kidnapping attempt while commuting home in an e-rickshaw (tuk-tuk) from Rangirkhari Point. On the evening of August 21, the master’s degree-pursuing student boarded the tuk-tuk, as she did every day, to travel to her residence in Subhash Nagar. However, the journey soon took a terrifying turn.

The student (let’s call her Apala), “I come from Karimganj and I don’t know all the streets and by-lanes of Silchar. So when I boarded the tuk-tuk that day and asked him to go to Subhash Nagar, he said there was huge traffic congestion towards Subhash Nagar on the Shamshan Road and he would take the road towards Shib Colony. I had some idea about that road but didn’t know all the connecting lanes. After we reached an intersection, the driver didn’t take the bridge that goes to Subhash Nagar, rather took a different road and said that road was a short-cut. I asked him to stop the vehicle right there, but he rather increased the speed. It was a very deserted lane and I started to panic. I froze at that moment and didn’t know what to do. Later he called someone over the phone and said in Sylheti, ‘Aajk paisi ekta re, tora aay’ (I have got someone today, you guys come over)”.
She received a timely call from a friend, and, in an attempt to save herself, she pretended to be sharing her location with the police. Despite this, the driver and a young intoxicated passenger did not relent. Describing the tuk-tuk driver, Apala said, “He had so many rakhis tied to his hands and was wearing a saffron t-shirt. The tuk-tuk driver who was roughly 40 years-old had along with another person, approximately 25-years-old and was intoxicated”.

In a desperate bid for safety, after travelling a few hundred metres more, Apala spotted a parked auto-rickshaw with a woman inside and screamed for help. The other driver intervened, asking where the tuk-tuk was headed, to which the driver replied, “Public School Road”, but Apala had asked him to take her to Subhash Nagar. Taking advantage of the momentary pause, Apala jumped out of the tuk-tuk and sought refuge in the other auto-rickshaw.

“I live alone with my mother at Subhash Nagar. I don’t deserve this from a town that I always knew was safe for women,” the shaken student expressed. Later she went to the Rangirkhari Town Out Post and submitted an FIR application. As her panic during the incident prevented her from noting the tuk-tuk’s registration number, it complicates the filing of a formal FIR. The police officials of the Rangirkhari Thana however assured that a general diary would be filed.