Two drivers of taxis for cab-aggregator app Ola were on Wednesday morning arrested by the Kolkata Police on charges of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in the city. A complaint in this regard has been registered with the Hare Street police station in Kolkata, and further investigation is under way, the local police told International Business Times, India.
The duo has been identified as Shankar Shaw and Guddu Singh. The police say they abducted the girl on Tuesday night after consuming liquor in the Watgunge area of the city. She was a pavement-dweller who lived on Brabourne Road with her mother, who used to work as a help at a local snack and sweetmeat shop.
She was first reported missing around 5 a.m. on Wednesday. The police said Shaw and Singh took her to the Park Circus flyover, took turns to rape her, then strangled her to death and dumped her body in the canal below the flyover. The body was subsequently recovered from there.
The police also said Shaw and Singh confessed to the crime after they were arrested.
The incident taking place on a newly-inaugurated stretch of the Parama Island flyover — locally known as the Ma flyover — has raised many questions on the safety of women and the arrangements of police-patrolling in the area.
Also, this is the first time drivers from a new wave of cab facilities have been accused of crimes against women in Kolkata. Similar incidents had cropped up in Delhi earlier, with the drivers working with Uber.
Following the incident, Ola, in a statement to IBTimes India, said: "We are saddened by the reports of the alleged misbehaviour of a driver in Kolkata. On preliminary identification of the cab details shared by authorities, we have suspended the account associated with this cab with immediate effect."
They also said: "As per our records, this incident has not occurred while on the Ola platform. We will work with the authorities to share any information that will help support their investigation."
