Pradnya Mandhare, a 20-year-old student in her third year of media studies, was attacked by a potential rapist in broad daylight, as a crowd of around 50 bystanders stood by and did nothing.
The attack happened in the city of Mumbai, located in India, where women have historically been raped, abused, subjected to acid attacks , and all too often are unable to get the justice they deserve when it comes to the crimes committed against them. But Pradnya Mandhare decided to fight back when, out of nowhere, a drunken pervert decided to sexually assault her.
Mandhare relayed the story of the attack to the Mirror .
“He came up and just started groping me.
“I tried to get away but he grabbed me. The only thing to do because nobody else was doing anything was to hit him and so I belted him with my bag.
“He tried to hit me back and he really stunk of alcohol, but I was determined not to let him get away with it. I know that some women don’t like to complain to the police but I was determined to make sure he was punished.”
Determined enough, it seems, that Mandhare found the strength and courage to grab her drunken attacker by his hair and physically drag him to a local police station. And it sounds like her would-be rapist turned from a terrifying predator to a chastened little boy as she did so, as Mandhare says, “He was telling me to let go and that he would come with me voluntarily, but I didn’t trust him and continued to pull him along.”
And so it was that Mandhare physically turned over the would-be rapist to police, stating, “I managed to hand him over to the police without getting any help from anyone.”
A police officer did confirm that an arrest had been made.
“We have arrested the accused, Chavan (25), who is a drug addict and was also drunk when the incident took place. We conducted a medical test of the accused and he will be produced court on Thursday (today). We are verifying whether he has a previous criminal record.”
In a country where, as One India reports, “crime against women refuses to die down in India, despite violent protests across the country,” Mandhere’s story of bravery has garnered a lot of positive attention.
However, Mandhare says what she did was not heroic.
“I don’t see myself as a heroine but I also think we should make a stand and let men know they can’t just do what they want and treated like objects to be groped whenever they feel like it.”
She may not view herself as a heroine, but there is no doubt that Mandhere’s act was one of courage and bravery.
It’s fortunate for Pradnya Mandhare that not only was her would-be attacker incredibly impaired by the level of alcohol in his system, but that she also had the ability to recognize that his impairment could lead to her overpowering him. It seems striking that in a crowd of around 50 onlookers, no one was willing to step in to prevent a violent act — unlike one unnamed veteran who recently made news for taking down a wife beater at a Waffle House. For more on that, and to see the veteran school a wife beater for yourself, click here .
[Image via Facebook]