A Delhi University professor was allegedly assaulted by a bag snatcher who also dragged her along the road when she tried to resist the attempt, as bystanders silently watched the incident unfold in broad daylight.
Delhi Police has registered an FIR in connection with the incident which took place on January 3 in East Delhi's Mayur Vihar area, but the accused has not been nabbed yet.
The woman shared her ordeal on Facebook before she approached police to file a complaint.
"I was at the Vij Auto Centre (BP) petrol pump near Mayur Vihar phase-III. As I was entering her car, a man, wearing a hoodie, came from the wrong side on a bike, and pulled me bad. I managed to not leave the bag and the man fell from the bike," she said in the post.
"The attacker called me a whore after I pulled him down by keeping a hold over my bag. When he repeatedly abused, I responded by trying to unhood him, after which he asked me to recognize him, promised to settle scores and followed it up with punches.
"But for the bystanders it was all sanctioned. It is as if by calling me a whore, a public permit had been won to be dragged and run down, abused and hit," she added.
While her Facebook post has gone viral since then, police officials said that they had registered an FIR on the same day.
"We had registered an FIR under sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) IPC on the same day the matter was reported to us. We are searcing for the accused and all steps are being taken to identify them," said a senior police officer.