NEW DELHI: Had it not been for this intrepid policewoman, a blind teenager on her way to college in Rajendra Nagar would have been in serious trouble. Meet 46-year-old assistant sub-inspector Kiran Sethi who fought and overpowered the girl’s stalker and had him arrested.

Sethi, an expert judoka, is known among her colleagues as a brave and upfront officer. She is posted at central Delhi’s Anand Parbat PS.

The incident took place about 10am on Wednesday. A 19-year-old sightless girl had taken a bus to her college when a 29-year-old man inside the bus accosted her, touched her inappropriately and asked her to ‘be friends’. The girl changed her seat.

However, when she got down at Rajendra Nagar and began to walk towards her college, the man followed her. As she reached a nearby lane, he waylaid her and began to manhandle her. He even stopped an auto and tried to shove her in but, when the girl screamed, it sped away. The man persisted and went on tormenting her for close to half-an-hour. Shockingly, passersby did not stop to help.

Sethi was travelling to Tees Hazari courts when she spotted a man pulling a girl by the hand. She first thought they were a couple having a fight only to realize the girl was visionless. So she approached the duo and made enquiries. The man abused and threatened her, asking her to go away.

“I asked if he was related to the girl. She promptly screamed ‘no’ and begged me to help her. Then the man pushed me,” Sethi told TOI.

Sethi responded with a sharply delivered kick that loosened his grip on the girl’s wrist. The man attacked Sethi but it took her just over a minute to overpower him.

The accused was identified as Sandeep , an Uttam Nagar resident. He works at a handicrafts showroom in Connaught Place. He was arrested immediately. DCP (central) Alok Kumar appreciated the ASI’s bravery and has written to Deepak Mishra , special commissioner of police (law and order), to reward her.

But Sethi says, “I did what any responsible person would do. I am just disappointed that though so many people witnessed the assault, they did not bother to stop and help. Had anything gone wrong, the girl would not have been able to even identify the culprit.”

