A woman riding pillion with her husband in Bengaluru lost her cool after their two-wheeler brushed against an auto while merging lanes. The woman, identified as Pankhuri Mishra, quickly got down and confronted the auto driver, Lokesh. What began as a verbal altercation soon escalated into a physical one, with the woman repeatedly hitting the driver with her slipper on a busy street. Despite this, the auto driver remained calm and continued recording the incident on his phone.
The video of the incident quickly went viral on social media and sparked outrage over the woman’s “extreme” and “unwarranted” behaviour.
What does the viral video show?
The now-viral video opens to show the woman apparently dialling the police as the auto driver calmly records her. A few seconds in, she notices she’s being filmed and attempts to snatch the phone as she asks him, “With whose permission are you recording me?”
“Whose permission do I need?” replies the auto driver.
Then all hell broke loose as the woman started hitting the auto driver with her slipper, while her husband watched silently.
Towards the end of the video, the woman accuses the driver of “misbehaving” with her. She claimed he ran over her foot, verbally abused her, and then began recording. The driver, however, denies having run over her foot.
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The police registered an FIR based on the complaint filed by Lokesh. The Bellandur Police booked Mishra, a native of Bihar currently residing in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru Couple issues apology
Taking a U-turn on her stance, the woman and her husband apologised to the auto driver over the “out-of-line” behaviour when they appeared before police for questioning.
“We were passing by when the incident happened. It was not an intentional thing, so I apologise. And I am pregnant. I also got the jerk. So, what I was thinking was if I had a miscarriage. So what will happen,” the woman says on video inside the police station.
She adds, “There was no hatred for Kannadiga people or the Kannada language. We love Bengaluru. We love the culture, we love the people. I apologise.
Then her husband intervenes and says, “We’ve been living here for three years now. We love this place. We don’t feel like going back to our hometown.”
“We apologise for whatever happened,” they further add, before adding, “We love all auto drivers.”
They then walked up to the auto driver and touched his feet as they apologised for their behaviour.