Rapido driver accused of misbehaving with woman passenger, arrested

Purushothaman Reveals Post-Ride Harassment: Driver Continues to Call and Message Despite Online Payment, Forcing Block on WhatsApp.

Bengaluru: A Rapido driver, who misbehaved with a woman passenger during the ride and even afterwards harassed over the phone, has been arrested, police said on Sunday.

Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police, South-East division, C.K. Baba, in a tweet said that they have arrested a “real sicko on wheels”.

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“BCP wont stand such indecent antics!. A criminal case is lodged at E’City PS on a guy who was pretending to be rapido bike rider!. We are swifter. Keep it clean or face the full force of the law.#SafeCity”, he said.

The woman, Athira Purushothaman had taken to Twitter on July 21 stating that she had gone for the Manipur violence protest at Town Hall and booked a Rapido auto to go home from the venue. However after several cancellations, she decided to take a Rapido bike back home.

In a long Twitter thread, the woman activist said: “Surprisingly the driver arrived on a different bike, explaining that the one registered with@rapidobikeapp was under servicing. I confirmed by booking through his app and proceeded with the ride”.

She said that as they reached an isolated area – with no other vehicles around, the driver began mastubating

”During the journey, we reached a remote area with no other vehicles around. Shockingly the driver began riding with one hand engaging in inappropriate behaviour (Mastubrating while riding the bike). Fearing for my safety, I remained silent throughout the ordeal.”

Purushothaman said that after the ride was over and she made online payment, the driver still relentlessly called and messaged her on WhatsApp and she had to block his number to stop the harassment.

She also shared a screenshot of the chat with the driver in which the driver used kissing and heart emojis as also sent a message ‘love you’.

Taking the service, she asked: “@rapidobikeapp, what measures are you taking for background verification. Your user’s safety should be a top priority. Please ensure that people registered with your service can be trusted for a safe travel experience. He keeps calling me from different numbers even now.”