A woman in Bengaluru has come forward with serious allegations against a Rapido bike taxi driver, accusing him of engaging in indecent behavior by masturbating during the ride and subjecting her to sexual harassment. The incident reportedly occurred on Friday when she hailed the bike taxi after attending a protest against Manipur violence at Town Hall.
The woman mentioned that she had no other option but to use the bike service as several auto-rickshaw taxis had cancelled on her. She took to Twitter to share her harrowing experience.
According to the woman’s allegation, the Rapido driver who arrived for the ride was using a different bike than the one registered on the app, claiming that the registered bike was undergoing servicing. Despite this, she proceeded with the journey after confirming the ride through the app.
“En route to the destination, the man reportedly started masturbating while driving the motorcycle with the other hand, the woman wrote. “During the journey, we reached a remote area with no other vehicles around. Shockingly, the driver began riding with one hand and engaging in inappropriate behavior (Masturbating while riding the bike). Fearing for my safety, I remained silent throughout the ordeal,” she wrote.
The Twitter user stated that she asked the Rapido driver to drop her a few meters away from her home to avoid disclosing her exact location. Even after making the complete payment for the ride, she alleged that the driver persistently called and messaged her. To support her claim, she shared a screenshot of the inappropriate messages received from the driver on WhatsApp, which reportedly included a text saying ‘love you.’ In response to the unsettling situation, the woman took the step of blocking the driver.
“I asked him to drop me 200 meters before my actual destination to conceal my home location. Once the ride was over, he started relentlessly calling and messaging me on WhatsApp. I had to block his number to stop the harassment,” she tweeted.
Tagging the bike taxi aggregator in the thread, she questioned about the measures taken to ensure the safety of the customers and added that the driver continued to harass her from other phone numbers.
“…what measures are you taking for background verification? Your users’ safety should be a top priority. Please ensure that people registered with your service can be trusted for a safe travel experience…” she added.
Responding to the woman’s accusation, the official handle of Bengaluru police asked for the user’s contact details and said, “We have informed to@sjparkps to take necessary action in this regard, Please DM your contact number.”
This is not the first instance of Rapido drivers facing accusations of sexual harassment. Back in March of this year, a Twitter user with the handle “husnpari” shared screenshots of inappropriate messages she claimed were sent by a Rapido driver. She stated that she had shared her location with him via WhatsApp, and the driver subsequently sent inappropriate messages.
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Updated: 23 Jul 2023, 11:37 AM IST
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