On December 26, 2025, Tina Soni, a Mumbai content creator, and her friend were travelling in an autorickshaw from Bandra station to the Jio Convention Centre for AP Dhillon’s concert when the driver stopped on a busy road, berated them for conversing animatedly, demanded immediate payment despite their assurance to settle at the destination, ejected them forcefully, and threatened physical assault with phrases like “patak patak ke marunga” (I’ll slap you repeatedly).
Tina captured the confrontation on video, shared it on Instagram, and highlighted the shocking inaction of bystanders and nearby traffic police amid heavy traffic; she promptly filed a police complaint submitting the footage, but as of December 30, 2025, Mumbai Police have issued no public statements, arrests, or investigation updates despite the video going viral and sparking widespread condemnation online.
The driver’s perspective remains absent, with netizens split between demanding justice and cautioning against generalising all auto drivers, underscoring a tense standoff between commuter safety fears and transport worker challenges.​
Ride Descends into Chaos
What promised to be an exhilarating night of music and camaraderie unravelled into terror around 11 PM on a bustling Bandra thoroughfare, teeming with concert-goers and vehicles.
The women, fresh from Bandra station and buzzing with excitement, recounted how the initially routine ride turned hostile when the driver slammed on the brakes midway, snarling that their lively chatter was intolerable and insisting on upfront payment a demand they politely refused, pledging to pay the full fare upon arrival as per standard practice.
Escalation followed swiftly: he unleashed a torrent of abuses in Hindi, revved the engine menacingly as if to ram them, circled back after a brief departure to hurl more threats of summoning accomplices for a beating, and finally sped off, leaving the duo stranded and petrified on the roadside.
“What was supposed to be an exciting night turned into a really scary experience,” Tina wrote in her Instagram post, which has amassed thousands of views, reactions, and shares; in subsequent reels, she emphasised, “Mumbai is not safe,” clarifying the footage aimed to raise awareness rather than chase viral fame, while her mother’s emotional follow-up plea amplified the family’s anguish and call for accountability.​
Echoes of Urban Insecurity
This episode unfolds against Mumbai’s perennial struggle with women’s safety in public transport, particularly after dark, where autorickshaws lifelines for late-night travel often become flashpoints amid driver fatigue, traffic pressures, and occasional overreactions.
No identical complaints tied directly to the concert evening have surfaced, yet the incident resonates with a pattern of viral videos exposing roadside altercations, bystander indifference, and lax enforcement, as evidenced by the nearby traffic police’s failure to intervene despite the commotion on a high-visibility stretch.
Social media erupted with outrage, labelling the apathy “shameful for a city that never sleeps,” while some defended the broader auto fraternity, noting economic strains like surging fuel costs and erratic fares that fuel tempers; Tina’s clip, timestamped and geo-tagged, has propelled discussions on apps like Instagram, urging reforms from mandatory driver sensitisation to tech-driven ride tracking.
Preceding the furore, no official alerts marred the AP Dhillon event, but post-incident, women’s groups have renewed advocacy for helplines and CCTV mandates in autos, framing this not as an isolated spat but a symptom of fraying urban civility.​
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
This distressing clash reveals deep fissures in everyday interactions, demanding unwavering empathy for vulnerable commuters while inviting drivers and authorities into open dialogue to rebuild trust through courtesy, clear protocols, and prompt redressaltransforming potential conflicts into opportunities for harmony. The Logical Indian champions kindness as the antidote to aggression, fostering coexistence in Mumbai’s vibrant chaos by prioritising de-escalation training, community watchfulness, and equitable policies that honour all road users, ultimately sparking the positive shifts our cities crave.
