A violent road incident in the northern Indian city of Gurugram, just outside the national capital New Delhi, has triggered widespread public anger across the country after graphic dashcam footage of the crash circulated widely on social media. The event has also reignited long-simmering conversations about routine harassment and gender-based hostility that female motorcyclists report facing on Indian public roads.
The confrontation unfolded on Sunday, when 28-year-old Shivani Chauhan was out riding with a group of fellow motorcycle enthusiasts. Footage captured by a camera mounted to Chauhan’s own bike clearly shows a white sedan drifting close to her two-wheeler before making contact. The impact throws Chauhan off her motorcycle onto the asphalt, leaving her bike skidding across the road, while the sedan does not stop and continues driving away from the scene.
Chauhan, who only suffered minor injuries thanks to her full protective riding gear, later shared the clip to her Instagram account. The video quickly went viral, racking up millions of views and drawing thousands of angry comments from social media users, which pressured local law enforcement to launch a formal investigation into the incident.
By Tuesday, Gurugram police confirmed they had taken the identified driver, 34-year-old Kalyan Bainsla, a gym owner from the nearby Haryana district of Palwal, into custody. Police records show Bainsla was operating a borrowed vehicle at the time of the crash. Investigators initially filed charges against Bainsla for reckless driving and endangering public safety, but later upgraded the charges to include attempted murder in response to public outcry and evidence from the viral footage.
Bainsla has publicly denied any intentional wrongdoing, laying out an alternate account of the incident during an interview with Indian news outlet Aaj Tak. He claims that members of Chauhan’s biking group repeatedly overtook his car and then slowed down abruptly in front of him, forcing him into a dangerous maneuver. When approaching a U-turn, he says he lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid colliding with Chauhan’s bike. He also claims he did not initially know the rider was a woman, and that he had already asked the group to slow down earlier in the encounter. Bainsla says he fled the scene because the group of motorcyclists were shouting threats and abuse at him, and he feared he and his traveling relatives would be violently attacked if he stopped.
“Had I stopped right then, those people would have beaten us up,” Bainsla told the news channel.
Chauhan has forcefully refuted every part of Bainsla’s narrative. In a follow-up Instagram video posted shortly after Bainsla’s interview, she claimed the white car began following her group almost immediately after they started their ride. When she told the driver to maintain a safe distance, she says the car’s occupants became hostile and demanded she pull over. Chauhan says she kept riding because she feared the car would block her path, and that a fellow rider behind her tried to position their bike between hers and the car to shield her. She also alleged that the men inside the car showed clear signs of intoxication. Police have not yet confirmed whether they conducted alcohol tests on Bainsla following his detention.
Bainsla’s legal representative, Naveen Bainsla, has denied the intoxication allegation, telling Indian news agency ANI that his client had not been drinking and was traveling with family members. The lawyer also rejected framing the incident as a deliberate hit-and-run, arguing it should be classified as a case of negligent driving rather than intentional harm.
Chauhan doubled down on her challenge to Bainsla’s account in a second follow-up video posted Monday night. She pointed to the original dashcam footage as clear proof that the car moved toward her motorcycle, rather than the other way around. She also rejected Bainsla’s claim that he did not know she was a woman, and publicly questioned why he failed to stop and check on her condition after the crash.
“I could have been gravely hurt or broken my bones. I could’ve died on the spot,” Chauhan said in the video.
The viral incident has opened up a national conversation about the routine threats and harassment female motorcyclists face across India. Dozens of women riders have since shared their own experiences online, recounting being followed by other motorists, filmed without consent, or targeted with aggressive driving simply because they are women riding high-powered motorcycles. Many reported facing constant microaggressions and stereotypes about women’s ability to operate large vehicles.
Divya Sandhu, a professional riding coach who was involved in a similar harmful collision 10 years ago, told Indian broadcaster NDTV that widespread negative attitudes toward women riders have not improved in the decade since her own incident. “It’s very common for people to joke about women’s driving skills,” she said.
Another female motorcyclist, Pallavi Singh, added that many women riders intentionally hide their hair and wear full-coverage protective gear partially to avoid being identified as women and targeted for harassment while on the road.