- The video shows a man in a car hitting a woman biker in Gurugram, sparking outrage
- Biker Divya Sandhu recalls her own crash from 10 years ago and notes no change since
- Women riders face bias and are often blamed without camera evidence, says Sandhu
For Divya Sandhu, the video of a woman biker being knocked down by a man in a car in Gurugram brought back memories from 10 years ago. Sandhu, an avid biker, had suffered a similar crash on the road.
"This is not the first time. Nothing has changed in 10 years," Sandhu, who is also a riding coach, told NDTV.
The shocking video of a man in a white Ciaz chasing and then hitting a woman biker in Gurugram has triggered widespread outrage.
For Sandhu, the incident is a reflection of a deeper mindset. A woman riding a sports bike is still a sight that many men are not comfortable with.
"It's very common for people to joke about women's driving skills," she said.
In this case too, Sandhu said, if it had not been for the cameras mounted on the bikes, the woman would probably have been blamed.
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"Thankfully, we had cameras on the bike of the victim and her friend, so we know the truth. Otherwise, everyone would have just blamed the woman. 'She can't ride properly' - that's what we would have heard."
The woman biker, who goes by the name Sia and runs the Instagram page 'rebelwheels_sia_', shared a video of the incident online and narrated the sequence of events leading up to it.
Aghast at the audacity of the accused, Sandhu questioned how anyone could deliberately do something like this to another person on the road.
"She is someone's child. How could he do that?" she asked, her voice reflecting her outrage.
Pallavi Singh, another rider, blamed the incident on the lack of fear of the law.
"There is no fear of the system. Police and the government need to act," she said.
Singh said she was shocked that despite the incident being captured on camera, the police had not yet been able to trace the man.
Talking about the risks women bikers face, Singh pointed out that many women deliberately hide their identities while riding to avoid unwanted attention.
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"Most of the time, we cover our hair and put on full gear to hide our identity so that no one troubles us on the roads. But that's not freedom. We want to ride with pride," she said.
"This incident happened in broad daylight in Gurugram. Imagine what it would be like in the hinterland for women riders. The problem is also about mentality, because people are not used to seeing women riding sports bikes," Singh said.
Do such incidents deter women from taking up biking?
Sandhu said more women are now taking up biking and the numbers are likely to rise, but the road remains a difficult one for women riders.
"There are always questions in women's minds before riding a big sports bike. They fear that if they fall, people will laugh at them, which is not the case with men. The mindset towards women is different."
Talking about the impact the crash could have on Sia, Sandhu said: "Imagine the mental trauma. She was not at fault, yet this man hit her. How is she going to get over that?"
Sia was riding her sports bike, an Aprilia RS 457, when a car hit her. In a video posted on Instagram, Sia said the incident took place on Sunday while she was riding with members of her group on Golf Course Road in Gurugram. The incident was recorded on an action camera mounted on Sia's motorcycle.
Gurugram Police said they had taken cognisance of the case based on Sia's video and were trying to apprehend the accused.
