Braveheart: Dutch girl fights off kidnap bid

MUMBAI: Staephanie Koot, a 26-year-old researcher from Amsterdam, received a nasty welcome on arrival at Sahar airport in the early hours of Saturday.
Ms Koot was on her way to her hostel in Mumbai University’s Kalina campus in a pre- paid taxi when she was attacked by three men who were in a car. The trio stopped her taxi on the Western Express highway near Vile Parle at gunpoint and forced her into their car.However, with Ms Koot being a six-footer, the assailants could not overpower her inside the car. Besides, she had kept the door of the car open by kicking it repeatedly.
After managing to jump out of the car, she reportedly begged several motorists to help her, but in vain. Finally, a pilot with a private airline, who was passing by, came to her rescue.
Speaking to TNN, he said, “I was going to the airport when my driver told me a woman was in distress. I took her to the Vile Parle police station.’’ The Vile Parle police station has registered a case of assault and robbery against her. She was later taken to the police headquarters at Crawford Market, where she was questioned by the police.Ms Koot, who is doing research on the impact of bank credit on poor women,was also shown photographs of suspects for identification.
Talking to TNN, the Dutch student praised the police for being helpful. Recalling the nightmare, she said, “I was hit on the head with the butt of a gun and my wrists were slashed with a knife. I lost one of my bags in the scuffle. I am glad to be alive.
Luckily, I managed to save my passport and purse as I put them under the taxi driver’s seat when I sensed danger.’’
Ms Koot had arrived by a Kuwait Airlines flight at 4.15 a.m. Apparently, the three men had followed her from the airport. “It was obviously a well-planned attack. But I must say my taxi driver was innocent,’’ she said.
Still reeling under shock, the Dutch woman, who is on her second visit to India, said, “I thought India, Mumbai in particular,was very safe. I had spent three months as a tourist in 1999-2000 and never had a problem. Even some parts of Europe are not safe for tourists, but the offences there pertain mainly to bag-snatching, not bodily assault.’’
Brave as she is, Ms Koot hopes to put the trauma behind her and begin her research work soon.