You don’t always have to outmuscle a assailant to beat him at his game. This is what a New Zealand woman learned after Vipul Romik Sharma abducted her. At first, things seemed fine; she exited a bar in Otahuhu with the 22-year-old and another man. Then they kidnapped and raped her.
Sharma then told her he was going to drive her home. The car began weaving due to Sharma’s sleepiness. The woman told him he was going to kill her first with his driving, and amazingly, Sharma gave control of the car to her.
At first, she intended on driving straight to her home with Sharma as a passenger. This occurred very early in the morning, and she figured that upon entering her driveway and tooting the horn, her roommate—a “big Islander guy”—would come out and take care of Sharma. But she realized he would have already departed for work.
That’s when she decided to drive straight to the Auckland Central police station—with Sharma snoozing and unaware.
But then the slime awakened, realizing where he was and repeatedly said “I’m sorry.” Too late, Tough Guy—you did the crime, you do the time. The woman told him: “You will be sorry; just wait.” Officers quickly placed Sharma on the ground.
During court, he claimed that the victim consented to the sex. This all happened in 2006, reported in the New Zealand Herald online, and Sharma was found guilty. As for the second man, he too was convicted.
Well, is there anything the woman should have done differently? It depends on what point of time in this chain of events. Certainly, she did everything right when Sharma began driving erratically. But what was she doing exiting a bar late at night with two men she didn’t know in the first place?
This is dangerous because once you’re outside late at night, it’s not difficult for a man to whisk an unwilling woman away into a vehicle and drive off with her, no witnesses. Think before you decide the best thing you can do for yourself at 1 a.m. is exit a bar with a man you just met.
Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.
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