Prachi Raje

Crime

4.5  

Prachi Raje

Crime

The Accident

The Accident

5 mins
434


I am in my early twenties; a young, educated, working woman full of life. A few years back I professionally learned to drive a car and now I take it to my office regularly. I diligently follow all the road-safety rules and it is a popular opinion of those who know me, that I drive well.

But one day…

My colleague requested I drop her at her house in the evening. It was a small diversion from my regular route, but it wouldn’t have taken much time, so I happily agreed. She sat beside me, and we chatted on the way. I dropped her off and took a roundabout turn to connect to the service road, which would take me back to the main road, which was my daily path home.

It was 5:30 in the evening and was still bright outside. My speed was fast yet controlled. Suddenly, a little girl aged 6 to 7 came running down the road and I hit her. I had not seen her from the distance, and I was shocked to find her on the way in a matter of seconds. I pulled the brakes so vigorously, that had I not had my seatbelt on, I would have bumped into the windshield.

My car halted with a loud screeching sound and without wasting a minute, I ran out to check on the little girl. She was okay. My car had stopped a foot away from her, but the poor girl was lying on the road. I shrugged her hard hoping she would wake up. She opened her eyes and seemed normal. I was very happy nothing happened to her and was about to assist her to reach her home or find someone she knew since there was no one on the road besides both of us.

But before I could speak, some 5 to 6 men and 2 to 3 women ran towards me and surrounded me and the car. One of the women was the girl’s mother. The men went straight to my car’s ignition and pulled out my keys and banged the front door hard. The little girl who was perfectly fine by now suddenly started crying at a high pitch. The 2 women started hitting me and demanded how could I be so careless while driving. The men shouted at me and threatened to call the police for having hurt a little child. They threatened to damage my car for my reckless driving. I was extremely scared and knew no one around. I thought of calling my colleague for help, but they refused to let me reach my phone.

After 5 minutes of the so-called ‘Drama’, I realized the whole situation I was stuck in. They were all a part of a gang, that probably extort money out of such fake accident cases. I could easily identify their repetitive dialogues and fake concern for the girl who was hit. She was instructed to say how much hurt she is and is in severe pain. I had enough and wanted to retaliate. I stood up and shouted, “Call the Police, take me to the Police station. I will settle the matter there. Go ahead !”.

But it did not work in my favor. All they wanted was money. I was already hurt by now, by the hitting and slapping of the women and had understood the severity of the cooked-up accident case I had been trapped into. I had to comply with their demands. That was the only way out.

I bought my purse and handed them all the money I had. They also took the extra cash and change that I had kept under the dashboard. I was extremely disheartened to see them take away a beautiful crystal Ganpati idol, which my dad had gifted me when I bought the car. I was in tears by now. But these scammers had no mercy. It was a daily business for them it seemed.

Finally, I got my keys back and was about to leave, alive and safe, with minor bruises on my hands and shoulders. I did not speak to anyone anymore, and neither did I look at those frauds. But one last time, I looked at the little innocent girl who stood clutching her mother's saree. She also seemed scared, but her look gave me an inkling that she will have to do this again after some time, every day.

I said, loud enough for the gang to listen, “Don’t be like them when you grow up. Work hard and earn money. This money they have earned by all these lies will never be of any use to them. So be a good girl.”

I smiled, sat in my car and drove away as fast as I could.

I decided to report the matter to the police, but my dad insisted to stay away from such matters. “Such people have vast networks and contacts. We may get trapped further. Leave it, Beta. You are back home safe, that’s it”, my dad said.

I guess he was right. Good people do not get into Police-related matters in this country. But I had the strongest of all, social media at my disposal. I posted a detailed write-up about the incident, highlighting the location and the description of the people I dealt with. I tweeted my story to the Police and requested their assistance in exposing the Accident scam. Luckily, I got a positive response from all sides. My post went viral, and people applauded my courage. Likes, comments, shares- the post had it all.

I don’t know what happened to the Scammers, since I never followed up on my tweet. But I just hope every human realizes that easy money doesn’t reap any benefits in the long run. Fair means and hard work is the key to living a peaceful and successful life!


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