Help pours in for Delhi’s first auto driver robbed of life savings in Ghaziabad

A number of people have come forward to help 40-year-old Sunita Choudhary, Delhi’s first woman autorickshaw driver, who lost most of her savings to auto thieves in Ghaziabad.

As first reported by Hindustan Times on Thursday, Choudhary had boarded an autorickshaw with four other men from Mohan Nagar to Anand Vihar on Tuesday. Near Vasundhara, the vehicle suffered a “breakdown”, but when Choudhary got out to look for another autorickshaw, the four men fled in their autorickshaw. Later, she found that they had stolen the ₹30,000 cash, meant to fund a new autorickshaw, from her bag.

On Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member Vijay Goel came forward and handed Choudhary a cheque for ₹30,000 out of his MP salary.

“I was pained to see that such an incident happened with an independent woman who has the spirit to fight for her bright future. I hope this small contribution would save her from mental agony and the pain of hiring an auto daily on rent,” Goel said. Good Samaritans from across the NCR came out in support of Choudhary.

“The story touched our hearts. This is not any other story, it started with misery and we’ll ensure it ends in hope and on a positive note. Uday Foundation (NGO) along with crowdfunding platform ketto.org is launching a fund-raiser to ensure that Choudhary gets a new autorickshaw,” Rahul Verma, founder, Uday Foundation, said. People and associations in Ghaziabad also offered support to Choudhary.

“We were pained to see how a self-made woman was robbed of her savings. Such incidents are common in Ghaziabad. Our association is more than willing to aid her financially and to get her life back on track,” Alok Kumar, president of federation of association of apartment owners (Indirapuram), said.

“Only I know how it feels to lose hard-earned money,” Choudhary said. “Since then, I have been borrowing money from people and also looking to rent an autorickshaw. I am moved by the gesture of people who understood my plight and decided to help me.”

Ghaziabad police said teams are trying to trace the people behind the incident. “We have roped in a team and also local informers to trace the people behind the incident,” Shlok Kumar, superintendent of police (city), said.