The Night I Was Nearly Kidnapped
By: Aaditya Rajagopalan
Tags: Kidnapped, Horror, Life Lessons, Experience, Beyourself

I was ten years old. My family and I traveled to India to visit my grandmother. She lives in a rural village near the depths of South India. To have a bit of fun, I decided the moment I arrived in India, my family and I would do a late-night shopping spree. It was nice seeing my grandmother after so long.

When I arrived in India, we hugged my grandmother and proceeded on a late-night shopping spree. My dad decided to head to my grandmother’s house because he was tired from the long flight. It was just me, my sister, my mom, and my grandmother.

So It Begins

It was fun seeing nightlife in India for the first time. After a few hours of shopping, we decided to head to a tea shop for drinks. I wouldn’t say I liked tea or any hot beverages back then, so I decided to opt for a bottle of water. I met the manager of the tea store who was very nice to us. He asked if I was new to town, and my mother informed him that we had just arrived from the United States. With a bright smile on his face, the manager nodded and greeted my family. After a 10 minute conversation with the manager, my family and I decided to head home after a long night.

The Stalker

When my family and I headed back home to my grandmother’s house, I heard footsteps and whispers. When I looked around, no one was there, but I knew for a fact that I heard something. Eventually, I noticed a flash of light coming from bushes near me. Immediately, I told my mom about it, and she saw it as well. All of us were now aware that someone was stalking us. Everyone was frightened. We immediately speed-walked to houses nearby to lose sight of the stalker. My grandmother immediately called the local police department to inform them that we were being stalked. At the time, we were in the middle of nowhere, hiding in a quiet village. No one knew the directions to reach home.

“Stalking is a slow poison for planned murder” — Dr.P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

A few seconds later...I once again heard whispering. I checked my left, and I saw someone staring at us. I then saw the stalker’s face…oh god…it came as a shock that the manager from the tea shop was following us! I also noticed he was holding weapons in his pocket, which scared me even more. Immediately, I screamed at my family to run, and I led the way. The manager brought his employees over, and I noticed he was chasing my family and me. After minutes of terror and sprinting, my family and I arrived at my grandmother’s house safe and soundly. The manager and his employees were nowhere to be found.

Photo by Luis Dalvan from Pexels

A Miracle

To this day, I believe it was a fluke that my family and I made it back safely to my grandmother’s house. My dad was emotional and relieved to see us okay. Police officers were waiting outside and asked my grandmother if we were all okay. She informed the officers that everyone was okay and reported the tea shop manager as the guy who stalked my family.

The tea shop manager was a criminal

Two days later, the police officers told us that they discovered the manager was a criminal who held multiple families hostage, for years. He has been doing this for 15 years, and no one noticed! Thank god he was sentenced behind bars for the rest of life. I was shocked. How in the world did I survive that?