New Delhi: Two days after she was allegedly assaulted outside the Siri Fort auditorium, filmmaker Akanksha Joshi on October 16 appeared before the media, claiming the attack on her was similar to the one on the Swiss diplomat, but she had thwarted the abduction attempt.

"But for my presence of mind, I too could have met the same fate as the Swiss diplomat faced (who was abducted from the same place and raped)," said Joshi, who in her initial statement had told police that two unidentified men had made an attempt to rob her, but later added that they had also tried to abduct her.

"There seems to be similar pattern in the two incidents," she said sitting in a hospital with bandaged head.

Drawing a parallel between the two incidents that occurred within a span of 30 minutes, Joshi said after watching a movie at the International Film Festival of India, she had just sat in her car when she felt two hands trying to grab her by the neck.

"The man then asked met to get out of the car while another managed to open the other door and sat in the seat next to the driver's seat," she said.

At this, she started screaming and threw the car keys outside, Joshi said, adding the attackers then dragged her out of the car and "banged" her head repeatedly on the pavement.

On hearing her screams, an elderly couple approached the car and the two men fled from the spot, leaving behind the profusely bleeding girl.

"Had I not thrown away the keys, they would have surely driven off with me. That was their motive," she said.

Joshi says the couple took her to a nursing home near Siri Fort road, where she was given first aid. By that time, she called up her friends who admitted her to Apollo hospital late on October 14 night.

Joshi suffered injuries on her back, knee and elbow in the process.

Deputy commissioner of police (South district) Vivek Gogia said the woman had in her initial statement said that two men had tried to rob her and had injured her in the process.

Subsequently, she said they had tried to abduct her, Gogia said, adding appropriate sections had been incorporated in the first information report (FIR).

PTI