Mumbai: Twenty days after she fell out of an autorickshaw and sustained serious head injuries, software engineer Swapnali Lad, 24, is now out of a coma and is moving her fingers and even smiling, said doctors treating her in a private hospital in Thane.

Her recovery could take months but there is hope after she was taken off the ventilator last week following three major surgeries. “Her response is heartening,” said Dr Harshad Purandare, neurosurgeon at Jupiter Hospital where Lad is being treated.

He said she was moved from the Intensive Care Unit to a private ward a few days ago and her family is with her. Initially, she was in a critical state, and though many patients with brain injuries do suffer from long-term effects, her quick recovery may be due to “her young age and an intrinsic fighting capacity. She does give an occasional smile,” he said.

The police are still investigating how the young woman, who was said to be screaming for help, fell out of the moving vehicle. She perhaps sensed some kind of danger within the vehicle and jumped or was flung out of it, police say.

On August 2, Lad, who works for Tata Consultancy Services, left her office in Wagle Estate and hired an autorickshaw to her Kolshet residence but the driver allegedly turned towards Bhiwandi when he approached the Kapurbawdi Junction.

Lad then raised an alarm and when the driver did not stop she fell out of the moving vehicle. Some boys from a nearby residential complex heard a woman screaming for help and within seconds saw the woman falling out of the speeding vehicle. She slammed into the road and was severely injured. The boys tried to chase the vehicle but couldn’t keep up with it. The incident took place at around 9.15pm.

Usha Bhoir, a local municipal corporator and wife of NCP leader Sanjay Bhoir, was passing by and rushed the woman to a nearby hospital. Sensing she was in a critical state, Bhoir later moved her to Jupiter Hospital where Dr Purandare and a team of doctors have been treating her. Lad’s family were found and informed with the help of the victim’s mobile phone and belongings. Bhoir has been praised by the Thane municipal body for coming to Lad’s aid in time and thus saving her life.

The Kapurbawdi police have drawn up sketches of three men, suspected to be connected to an alleged kidnapping bid on a young woman from Thane some weeks ago. Meanwhile, many have said that if CCTVs were placed in crucial spots in Thane, the culprits could have been identified.