A woman lawyer in the city was a victim of road rage when a motorcyclist beat her repeatedly with a shoe on her face after she told him to back off from the zebra crossing at a red signal in Colaba. Advocate Armin Wandrew-ala, whose left cheek was bruised, said she was "brutally assaulted '' and the police later only registered a non-cognisable offence.
Lawyers are now rallying around her and even traffic experts say that police, now cracking down on jaywalkers at signals, routinely wink at motorists stopping way beyond the zebra lines when the traffic light goes red.
Transport consultant Sudhir Badami said that traffic police did not mind much if cars and bikes came to a halt after crossing the zebra lines after the light turned red because this meant that much more traffic volume moved on and "streets were cleared faster''. He said when cops punished jaywalkers they should equally penalise motorists who crossed the line at signals.
Wandrewala said the incident occurred at the traffic signal opposite Regal Theatre. "The signal was green for pedestrians when the motorcyclist with a pillion rider zipped across the zebra crossing and almost hit me and screeched to a halt beyond the line just avoiding me. I told him he had no business crossing the zebra lines and he told me to get lost and mind my own business. He kept inching forward and I told him to back up and obey traffic rules. I then held the bike handle, making him stop. He revved up the bike and threatened to run over me and I, in self-defence, raised a hand while holding my bag and hit the side of his face lightly.''
She said luckily the public intervened . "A police jeep later came by and the cops hauled the motcyclist to Colaba police station. The motorist was one Mohammed Anwar, a Mahim resident.
That was it. "He just got off the bike, and before I realised it, coolly took off his leather sandal and began hitting me hard on my face in rage. He hit me twice or thrice and my dark glasses went flying. I wan in pain and felt dizzy. My eye or ear could have been injured badly.''
