A 32-year-old woman who had availed of a bike taxi service from a cab aggregator service in Rohini on Thursday afternoon alleged the bike operator molested her when she asked him to stop speeding, police said on Thursday, adding that the accused was arrested on Saturday.
The woman said he touched her inappropriately, hurled sexual slurs and threatened to kill her, due to which she filed a complaint with the police.
On the basis of her complaint, a case was lodged under sections 74 (assault or criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) , 79 (word, gesture, act, or object exhibition intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 351 (3) (criminal intimidation by threatening to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Police on Saturday identified the accused as Sachin Choudhary, 34, a resident of Samaypur Badli. They said he was previously involved in a case of dowry death.
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According to the version of events shared by the woman, she booked a bike on the Uber app at around 1.20pm on Thursday, to travel from Rohini Sector 15 to Pitampura’s MP Block Market for some work. The bike came within a few minutes and they left.
“I got on the bike at 1.28pm. It all happened in 10 minutes. I am still in shock. Hardly a few seconds after he started the bike, I noticed that he started speeding and driving recklessly. I told him ‘Bhaiya, please slow down’. To this, he shouted and said the speed is low. I kept quiet, thinking I would be alright. However, he then intentionally rode through a huge pothole that was right in front of us. We were almost about to fall,” she said.
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“I requested him to be careful, but he said that if he slowed down, motorists behind us would hit him. He then said that I should have booked a cab. I told him not to give me advice. He got very angry, intentionally started riding through potholes and then touched me. I shouted, but he threatened me,” the woman said.
The woman said the accused started making rounds of the same pothole-riddled stretch.
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“I was very scared and asked him to stop the vehicle. He did not listen and started riding in a different direction. I told him he was going the wrong way, but he shouted at me. He started touching me inappropriately and said he would kill me. I started screaming for help. I kept screaming, and then he finally dropped me near a school. As I was getting down, he again threatened to kill me. He also said he would not let me leave. He tried to hit me but I ran. I saw some school teachers and begged them for help. Only when onlookers came together did he finally leave.”
Investigators said the woman filed a complaint on Saturday morning and a case was registered.
Deputy commissioner of police (Rohini) Shashank Jaiswal said teams were put on the case and details of the Uber bike rider were collected. “The accused was traced within a few hours. Raids were conducted and he was apprehended from his house. During interrogation, he disclosed his involvement in the incident. Accordingly, he was arrested and the said motorcycle Honda Dream Yuga was also taken into police possession. He has been sent to 14 days judicial custody by the court. Further investigation of the case is in progress,” he said.
A spokesperson for Uber said they have removed the driver from their platform. “What has been described is deplorable and has no place on the Uber platform. We reached out to the rider soon after the case was reported to us and removed the driver’s access to Uber account. We stand ready to assist law enforcement authorities to support in the investigation,” the Uber spokesperson said.