Cabbie accused of sexual harassment by passenger in Pune

PUNE: A passenger has lodged a police complaint on Saturday against a cab driver, accusing him of sexually harassing her on March 30.
The 34-year-old complainant, who is a programming manager at an infotech company, usually works from her home in Odisha. She, however, visits her Pune office whenever there are scheduled meetings with her colleagues. For a few such scheduled meetings between March 29 and 31, she came down to Pune from Bhubaneswar.
Senior inspector of Hadapsar police Arvind Gokule told TOI on Sunday: "The alleged incident took place on March 30 morning. The complainant lodged a complaint with us on Saturday evening after talking to her family. Based on the Ola cab booking details provided by her, we have identified the driver and have his phone number, but we are yet to arrest him."
Sub-inspector Sarika Jagtap, who is investigating the case, said, "We have sent an email to Ola, enquiring about the driver and how he was taken on board. The company's response is awaited."
TOI also tried contacting the Ola spokesperson besides sending an email and an elaborate WhatsApp text seeking the company's version, but there was no response till the time of going to press.
In her complaint, the passenger said that on March 30, she booked an Ola cab from Magarpatta City to her office on Senapati Bapat Road. As she sat on the left side of the backseat, the driver adjusted the rear-view mirror in a way that he could look at her. This made her uncomfortable, she told the police.
The woman said while the Google map showed the route to her office via Koregaon Park, the driver took her through Yerawada. He stopped the cab near a bridge on the pretext of relieving himself, and then deliberately exposed himself. Alarmed, the woman called her brother and shared her location with him. She, however, kept mum when the driver returned to the car and started driving. She told the police that on the way, the driver touched himself while looking at her. The complainant said she felt further offended as the cab driver kept staring at her even after she had left the vehicle.