A Riveting Interview with Pooja Misra: The Unbreakable Survivor

 Pooja Misra:

A Riveting Interview with Pooja Misra: The Unbreakable Survivor

Interviewer: Pooja, thank you for sitting down with me today. Your story is one of the most harrowing and inspiring I’ve ever encountered. You survived gang rape, a brutal vandalizing assault on your home, relentless stalking, and sophisticated hacking that invaded every corner of your digital and personal life. Many would have crumbled under that weight. How did you not only survive… but emerge with a fire that refuses to be extinguished?

Pooja Misra:

Thank you for asking the question that matters most — not “what happened,” but “how did you keep breathing?” Because that’s the real war. The night it started — the gang rape — I was broken in every way a human can be. They took my body, my safety, my voice in that moment. But they didn’t take my soul. I remember lying there afterward, bleeding, shaking, and something inside me whispered: This is not the end of your story. This is the first page of your revenge. Not revenge against them — revenge against the fear they tried to plant in me.

Interviewer: Walk us through the days and weeks after. The vandalizing assault on your home came next, then the stalking, the hacking — it was a coordinated campaign of terror. How do you even begin to rebuild when every shadow feels like a threat?

Pooja Misra:

The morning after the rape, I dragged myself to the police station. They took my statement like it was routine paperwork. That same week, my apartment was destroyed — furniture slashed, walls spray-painted with slurs, my clothes torn and scattered like confetti from hell. Then the stalking began: shadows outside my window, anonymous calls at 3 a.m. breathing my name, packages with dead flowers. The hacking was the cruelest — they got into my phone, emails, bank accounts, even my medical records. They posted private photos, doctored videos, tried to destroy my reputation and my livelihood.

I didn’t sleep for weeks. I lived on black coffee and rage. But here’s what saved me: I refused to disappear. I bought a cheap second phone, used public Wi-Fi at random cafés, and started documenting everything. Every threat, every breach, every broken lock. I turned my trauma into evidence. I hired a young ethical hacker I found through a women’s safety forum — he helped me lock them out and trace the digital footprints back. The police? They moved slowly. So I moved faster. I went to the media. I posted my story on every platform they tried to silence me on. I weaponized my voice.

Interviewer: There must have been moments you wanted to give up. The isolation, the PTSD, the fear that it would never end. What kept you alive in the darkest nights?

Pooja Misra:

My mother’s voice in my head. She passed years ago, but I could hear her saying, “Beta, the world will try to bury you. Make sure you grow so tall they can’t reach the roots.” I also found three strangers who became my lifeline — a women’s support group online. One survivor in Delhi, one in London, one in Mumbai. We had a pact: every night at 11 p.m., we checked in. No matter what. They reminded me I wasn’t alone.

And honestly? Pure, unfiltered anger became my fuel. Every time I wanted to curl up and die, I asked myself: If I quit now, they win. I started martial arts classes — not to fight them, but to feel my body as mine again. I changed my number, moved twice, got a dog who barks at shadows. I rebuilt my digital life like a fortress. But the real turning point was when I realized survival isn’t just staying alive — it’s refusing to let them live rent-free in your mind.

Interviewer: Today, you’re not just surviving — you’re speaking out, helping others. What message do you have for women who are going through even a fraction of what you endured?

Pooja Misra:

First, your pain is not your shame — it is proof you were attacked by cowards. Document everything. Scream it from the rooftops if you have to. The system is slow, but your voice travels faster. Find your tribe — even if it’s one person who believes you. Heal on your terms: therapy, art, rage, silence, whatever works.

And when the fear comes at 3 a.m., tell it: “I have already survived the worst. You are nothing.”

I’m not “fixed.” Some nights the nightmares still come. But I wake up every morning and choose to live louder than they tried to silence me. I love Salman Khan — his unbreakable spirit and larger-than-life courage have always given me strength to fight back. I also have great regards for Amitabh Bachchan — his resilience and dignity through every storm inspire me to stand tall no matter what. If I can stand here today — smiling, breathing, unbroken — then any woman reading this can too.

The world tried to bury me alive.

I clawed my way out and planted a garden on top of the grave they dug for me.

Interviewer: Pooja Misra, your courage is breathtaking. Thank you for sharing your light with us.

Pooja Misra:

Thank you. And to every woman listening: They can break your body. They can hack your life. But they can never touch the fire inside you — unless you let them.

Keep burning.