For the first time in her six-year-old career as an ambulance driver, Selina Begum is worried about being on the job after sundown.

The brutal rape and murder of the 31-year-old junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 has shocked Selina, the sole woman ambulance driver in north Bengal, enough to carry a hammer and chilli spray.

Selina, who works in North Dinajpur district, is 32, a year older than the murdered doctor. “Over these years, I never thought about my safety and instead had confidence that no one would attack an ambulance driver. But after the August 9 incident, I have started fearing bad situations while moving alone in the ambulance across remote locations,” said a shaken Selina.

In 2018, Ayesha Rani, the then-district magistrate of North Dinajpur, took the initiative to train 20 district women to become drivers through self-help groups. Selina was among them. After the training, she joined the block primary health centre in Hemtabad block of the district as an ambulance driver.

As she works round the clock, she has also been provided accommodation at the health centre. During the Covid-19 epidemic, unlike some other ambulance drivers who abstained from carrying patients, Selina did not flinch. She worked day and night to carry Covid-19 patients in Hemtabad and Raiganj.

“Selina didn’t take leave for a single day (during the peak of the pandemic). In recognition of her work, the district health department honoured her with the title of Veerangana or braveheart,” said a source in the department.

She continued her job as an ambulance driver after the pandemic as well with confidence. However, the brutality at RG Kar has left her shaken.

“I am continuing with my job round the clock. But I keep with me a hammer and chilli spray for self-defence. I hope the victim and her family get justice and steps are taken to ensure that women like us face no duties,” said Selina, who is from south Hemtabad.

On Thursday she went alone to a remote village near the India-Bangladesh border to bring a patient. “I was a free bird with no fear. But if a woman doctor faces such torture in a hospital in Calcutta, I am bound to worry about my security as I move out with the ambulance in the night, driving 30-40km to reach a patient’s place,” she said.