Ola driver held in Bengaluru for forcing woman passenger to strip inside cab

BENGALURU: A driver of ride-sharing firm Ola was arrested for allegedly molesting and forcing a woman passenger to strip in the cab on the way to the airport from home early on June 1, police said on Tuesday.

"The cab driver, V. Arun, has been arrested and his car (KA 53 C 6607) seized on a complaint by the victim. He is in our custody for interrogation," Bengaluru Additional Commissioner of Police, East, Seemanth Kumar Singh told reporters here.

The incident occurred when the woman was on way from her home in the eastern suburbs to the airport for an early flight to Mumbai.

"The driver, however, veered off from the main road on the pretext of reaching the airport early but drove to a deserted spot where he locked the car and assaulted her. He then asked her to strip after snatching her mobile phone and threatened to call his friends to gang-rape her if she alerted anyone. He took her photos to share on Whatsapp later," Singh said, citing from her complaint by e-mail.

After the victim assured the driver that she would not tell about him to anyone or complain to police, he dropped her at the airport.

"A case has been booked against the accused on the complaint from the victim under various sections of the IPC and IT Act.

"We have issued notice to Ola Cabs asking why the police verification of this driver was not done," Singh added.

An Ola spokesperson, however, said in a statement: "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."