Motorist scuffles with Afghan man, tries to grab wife

She narrowly escapes being pulled into car

An Afghan woman found herself in a scary situation when a man tried to pull her inside his car while she was walking with her husband near south-east Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market late on Tuesday. 

The accused was also involved in a scuffle with the woman’s husband and fled with her handbag, police said on Wednesday.

The victim has been identified as Aziza, who lives with Mohammad Qais in a rented house at Hari Nagar in Ashram. Police said the incident took place when the couple was returning home from the market.

“They claimed that they went to the market to buy medicine,” said a police officer.Around 11.45 pm, they were near Lal Sai Mandir on Ring Road when an unidentified man travelling in a Maruti WagonR approached them seeking ‘help’.

The accused came from Moolchand side and claimed to be looking for a local address.“Qais told the man that he was not aware of the address,” the officer added.

However, the man continued to hold a conversation and offered to pay money if Qais and his wife went with him in the car.

When Qais refused the offer, the man allegedly began to argue with the couple. It soon turned into a scuffle between Qais and the accused during which, the couple claims, the man tried to pull Aziza inside his car.

Qais managed to save his wife, but Aziza’s handbag fell inside the car during the melee. 

“The accused decided to flee when bystanders began to gather at the spot. The couple also failed to retrieve the handbag from the car,” the officer said.

The handbag contained 800 US dollars, a photocopy of Aziza’s passport and Rs 4,500 in cash.

A case under section 365 (kidnapping) and 392 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code has been filed with Lajpat Nagar police station.

The couple failed to note down the full registration number of the car, but have provided a number 1160.