Even as the #MeToo campaign, which highlights instances of sexual abuse faced by women, is taking up the social media by storm, a 25-year-old woman in Hyderabad alleges that an Uber driver masturbated in a moving car on October 19.
Supreme Court to examine ways to ensure women's safety in app-based taxi services
The woman, a resident of Kondapur of Gachibowli area in Hyderabad, claims that the incident took place when she was on her way to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to board a Delhi-bound flight.
Hyderabad Police have arrested the accused. "The arrested accused Prem Kumar, 26, is the owner and not the driver of the car. He was driving on that day as the regular driver was not on duty," Deputy Commissioner of Police P Viswa Prasad was quoted as saying by a news agency.
Here's what happened
On October 19, the victim was on her way to the airport at around 7 am when Kumar started masturbating on reaching the Outer Ring Road on the outskirts of the city.
"As soon as we were on the relatively empty ORR in #Hyderabad, he slowed the car to about a 50 kmph and kept glancing back in the rearview mirror. After about 5mins when I realized what he was doing," the victim said in a Facebook post.
It was only when the victim threatened to call police that Kumar stopped the car.
"I shouted and asked him to stop the car - unfazed, and continuing his act, he very nonchalantly asked me what was wrong. After much screaming, he reluctantly stopped the car, and continued standing on the road until I took a picture of him and threatened to go to the cops," she added.
It was only after reaching the Delhi airport that the woman called 1091 helpline and filed a complaint at Safdarjung police station.
Delhi Police then forwarded the matter to Hyderabad Police, who arrested the driver.
"Two special teams were formed. They identified the car and the accused driver. The owner-cum-driver was arrested within no time and he is being remanded to judicial custody," a police officer said.
Uber fires driver
Meanwhile, the popular app-based cab service company has fired the driver.
"Uber's response in terms of this incident has been pretty generic- they've fired the guy, apologised etc. But there's no update on how they're looking to solve for this," the victim told NDTV.
"The Uber app displayed the driver's name only as B that day, which they confirmed needs to be fixed. The fact that their platform has no vehicle/driver info post the trip is also something to be looked at," she added.
