In yet another grim reminder that Delhi is not safe for women, especially during nights, a 23-year-old Belgian national on a pan-India tour was allegedly molested by an Ola cab driver in South-East Delhi’s CR Park on Saturday night.
The incident has once again raised questions about the safety of women using app-based taxi services.
The accused driver, Balraj Singh alias Raj, a native of Rajasthan’s Alwar district, was arrested in the wee hours of Sunday after the incident was reported to police. The accused was later produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
A police officer of South east district said when the woman booked the cab, she received a confirmation from Ola that the driver named Vikram Singh would pick her up but it later emerged that he had rented out the vehicle he owned to the accused in violation of the norms.
The woman, who said she worked as a translator, told police that she had booked the cab from Gurgaon and during the journey the cab driver allegedly kissed and took pictures of her.
“We first tracked down Vikram but he did not turn out to be the driver. He owned the car. The accused was arrested after Ola assisted police in tracking the GPS locations of the car,” a senior police official said.
A case of molestation has been registered under sections IPC 354 and 354A, 354C against the accused at CR park police station, police said. The taxi is registered with Keshav Taxi Services in Gurgaon’s Sushant lok area.
The woman, who has been staying in India since February 2016, was travelling to a friend’s place in CR Park whom she had met during her trip to Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh. The victim’s statement has been recorded and she will return to Belgium tonight, police said.
“The driver deliberately took the wrong route after Hauz Khas and when the woman told him that she will ask her friend (about the right route), he took her phone and deleted all the records related to Ola. He also called her over to the front seat claiming that his GPS was not working and then allegedly kissed her,” a senior police official said.
After stepping out of the cab near CR Park area, she informed police about the incident around 10 pm, police said.
The incident also drew criticism from the Opposition parties with former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit claiming that there has been a spike in crimes against women in the national Capital under the AAP Government.
leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta also demanded a thorough investigation into the case. The AAP Government has “gone back” on its promise to ramp up women’s safety, he alleged.