A ride to the Kempegowda International Airport in an Ola cab turned out to be a nightmare for a Bengaluru-based engineer after she was allegedly molested by the driver.
In her statement to the police, the 24-year-old said the driver molested her, threatened to disrobe her, tried taking photographs, and attempted to strangle her. The driver, V. Arun, 31, is in police custody.
According to the police, the incident took place on June 1 around 2 a.m. The woman had booked a taxi through the Ola cab aggregator app to travel to the airport from her house in Kodihalli. The accused picked her up from her house and took a detour on the way to the airport. He parked the car in an isolated place near Doddajala, and after locking the doors, molested her.
When she resisted, he tried to strangle her, the woman told the police. “She told us that he attempted to take photographs of her from his phone,” said the police.
“However, he did not succeed in clicking her photos as the woman stood her ground and did not allow it to happen,” said Ajay Hilory, DCP (East). Arun was arrested later that day.
Couldn’t escape
The driver then dropped her at the destination with a warning not to register any complaint.
The young woman — who had booked the taxi to catch a flight to Mumbai in the early hours — could not escape from the vehicle as it was centrally locked.
“The victim called her father and narrated the ordeal. He advised her to immediately lodge a complaint, following which she mailed her complaint to the police commissioner from Mumbai,” a police official said.
Based on the details she had provided, the police tracked down the accused V. Arun and arrested him the same day.
They have registered a case against him under sections 307 (Attempt to murder), 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation, 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).
The accused is a native of Kasaghattapura near Chikkabanavara. He has no past criminal record, officials said.
Zero tolerance: Ola
Ola, in a statement to the media, said that the driver has been blacklisted.
“We regret the unfortunate experience the customer had during the ride. We have zero tolerance for such incidents and the driver has been blacklisted from the platform as an immediate action upon receiving the complaint. Safety of customers is our top priority and we are extending our full support to the police authorities in their investigation,” an Ola spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that the driver-partner in question held a valid police verification check which said that he had no criminal cases recorded against him.
