Gurgaon: “I was very scared, so I did not stop.”Two days after a Maruti Ciaz chased and hit her on Golf Course Road, throwing her off her Aprilia and into the path of speeding traffic, Shivani Chauhan told TOI she never wanted a confrontation — she only wanted to get away.Shivani (27) said the ordeal began when the car came dangerously close to her motorcycle. The car first swept past her at high speed. “I thought, maybe, he had not seen me or was in a hurry. But if you have gone that fast, then go straight ahead. What sense does it make to stop ahead, gesture at me, then hit me from behind and run away?” she asked.Shivani said the car’s occupants repeatedly asked her to stop. “There were four boys in the vehicle. They were, perhaps, drunk and kept chasing me. They wanted to say something, but I did not want to talk,” she added.Shivani said she slowed to around 50-60kmph as the car moved across her path. She estimated it was travelling at around 100kmph or more when it came alongside and struck her. She was flung onto the road as her motorcycle skidded away, sparks flying from the friction.She suffered bruises and injuries to her knee and hand, but said the protective gear prevented fractures or worse. “I thank God that I had my riding shoes and gloves. The way my hand hit the road made me realise what could have happened. I could have broken my shoulder or legs.”The incident was captured on the camera mounted on her bike. Another camera also recorded the car moving across lanes before the collision.But one question still haunts her. What if the timing had been slightly different? “What if there had been a difference of two or three seconds? I could have suffered much deeper injuries, my bones could have broken, or I could have died on the spot,” she said.The Ciaz sped away after the crash. One of Shivani’s friends chased it and caught up with it at a traffic signal, but Shivani said the driver denied responsibility and left again. The accused, Kalyan Bainsla (33), later gave a media interview, claiming a group of bikers had been riding aggressively and that Shivani suddenly turned while he was taking a U-turn. He denied hitting her deliberately.Shivani rejected the version. “If you felt so bad for me, why did you not stop at that time?” she asked, questioning why nobody checked on her after the collision.Police subsequently arrested Bainsla in Rajasthan along with his cousin Lovneesh (32), who was also in the car. DCP (east) Sandeep Kumar said police added Section 109 of BNS, for attempt to murder, after analysing the footage and added that the collision appeared deliberate. Sections 78 and 79, relating to stalking and insulting a woman’s modesty, were also added after Shivani’s statement.For Shivani, the incident is about more than one dangerous ride. “Every woman rider should be able to feel safe on the city’s roads. Unfortunately, that sense of security is still missing,” she said.Sunday was meant to be a simple escape from her routine of helping residents in Kalkaji with civic problems. Her father Roshan Chauhan, an AAP functionary, said she had bought her first motorcycle only five to six months ago. “Her Sunday routine was simple. She wanted to ride out, have tea and return home,” he added.Shivani had gone out with a group of bikers on Sept 13. The family learnt about the crash only the next day, when journalists reached their home.Shivani, a fashion designing graduate, contested the 2022 MCD election on an AAP ticket at 23 and finished second. She later continued working on civic issues in Kalkaji.
