Caught drink-driving Mumbai woman locks herself inside car

A 42-year-old woman from Mumbai's suburban Bandra was booked for alleged drunk driving after she tried to escape the alcohol test and sped away in an inebriated state, police said on Tuesday.

The woman, Shivani Bali, a resident of Worli in South Mumbai, was intercepted near Bandra Reclamation on Monday night after the Mumbai Police stepped up its enforcement drive against drunk driving following the Janhavi Gadkar case.

According to police, when Bali was asked to stop her car for taking a breath analyser test, she initially tried to escape but later stopped her vehicle at a distance.

High drama ensued for two hours past midnight when the woman refused to come out of the car and locked herself inside the car with the AC on.

"Not only did she refuse to come out from the car, but started smoking cigarettes at regular intervals with doors closed," said B D Mane, a traffic policewoman who was present at the spot.

"There was a lot of smoke inside the car and anything could have happened due to extreme suffocation. So we had to break the glass and rescue her," another officer said.

We have registered a case against the woman and she has been charged under Section 185 (drunken driving or driving under the influence of drugs) of Motor Vehicle Act and Section 110 (pertaining to indecent behaviour in public) of Bombay Police Act, a police official from Bandra Police station said.

She was later released on paying a fine of Rs 2000, police said.

Last week, Janhavi Gadkar, a 35-year-old corporate lawyer allegedly rammed her car under the influence of alcohol, into a taxi killing two persons on the Eastern Freeway.

Following the mishap, traffic police has instructed its team to keep a check on women drivers.