Aug 19, 2016 01:23 PM
126680 Views
(Updated Aug 19, 2016 01:29 PM)
A foreigner who took an Uber from Pali Hill to 7 Bungalows was molested by an Uber driver, Wednesday. The expat's friend took to Facebook to post the incident.
She writes:
"Last night an expat girl friend who is currently working in Bombay took an Uber from my house in Pali Hill to 7 Bungalows. She asked us if Uber was safe and all of us jumped to assure her that she was in BOMBAY and she had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately we were proved wrong because this uber driver tried to molest her on their way to Versova.
He spoke to her in a friendly manner when she first got in and asked her where she was from and made small talk. Later, he said that since the roads in Mumbai are horrible she was welcome to come sit in the passenger seat up front with him. When she refused to move he complained about low visibility through his back screen and told her he was going to pull over to clean it. She was very uncomfortable but allowed him to stop to clean the screen. She was surprised when he came to the back seat under the pretext of cleaning the window from the inside and proceeded to put his hand on her thigh and tried to feel her up. She panicked and tried to push him off and only when she started shouting at him did he move off her and go back to his seat. She managed to jump off and get home safely.
But what angers me is that this has happened in Bombay! I cannot believe this happened to my friend. This happens because there are no consequences! And Uber? How many of us are using Uber? I'm expecting Uber to deal with this in a way that scares any Uber driver from violating someone. While we are going to make an official police complaint, Uber needs to check the backgrounds of their drivers and have consequences. And as people of this city that has always been progressive when it comes to women, where I feel safe to drive home at 3am, we cannot keep quiet. That Uber driver should have been stripped and sent home naked so he can feel the shame he deserves! #uber"
Uber acknowledged the complaint and permanently suspended the driver, Viola commented on her post, Friday: "Hi Guys! Uber responded last night and has agreed to cooperate with the Mumbai Police who have been unexpectedly prompt and efficient. Uber has suspended the driver permanently and has reported him to the Mumbai Drivers Association as well. Thank you everyone for being so supportive and sharing our post so quick action was possible! I like to think that we may have prevented an even worse incident from occurring in the future. So many disgusting stories have been unearthed since this post was put up and my inbox is flooded with women with similar stories that did not have the support system in order to bring their incident to light. I encourage each and every one of you women out there with similar experiences to please post it online and you will be surprised at how many people will support you:-)"
Many people are giving up their jobs to turn cab drivers for aggregators like Uber. Although these apps have made commuting easy for us, but certain safety checks have not been effectively put in place. Stricter background checks and harassment policies need to be implemented to ensure passenger safety.
Reference: https://facebook.com/vwadia/posts/10154480999181151
