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Uber driver arrested for harassing woman techie in Thiruvananthapuram

  • The 32-year-old driver was arrested on a complaint from a collective of Technopark IT employees
  • The incident happened while the female passenger was returning home from her workplace on June 13
  • The driver made attempts to befriend the woman during the journey to Jagathy
  • While the car was about to reach Akkulam, the driver grabbed the woman's leg
Uber driver arrest misbehave woman technopark Thiruvananthapuram

An Uber taxi driver has been arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a female IT professional of Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram. 

The police on Wednesday said that the 32-year-old driver was arrested on a complaint from Prathidhwani, a socio-cultural collective of Technopark's IT employees.

The incident happened at Akkulam, a suburb near the capital, while the woman passenger was returning home from her workplace at Kazhakkoottam in the night on June 13. According to the complaint, the woman, an employee of the Technopark Phase 3, had hired a taxi via Uber to Jagathy by around 7.30 pm. 

Also read: US woman raped by Uber driver in India sues the company a second time

The driver made several attempts to befriend the woman during the journey. While the car was about to reach Akkulam, he turned back and grabbed the passenger's leg, the complaint said. The woman shouted and asked him to stop the car, and when he did so, she alighted. The driver then apologised and left, the complaint said. 

"He was booked under section 119 (a) of the Kerala Police Act pertaining to the offence of misbehaving with the passenger and publicly making a sexual gesture or doing acts degrading the dignity of women," PTI quoted a senior police officer as saying. 

Also read: Top Uber executive fired for obtaining medical records of Indian rape victim

Though the victim complained to Uber, they just sent an 'apology mail', stating that this would not be repeated. Prathidhwani sources said they took up the matter as the woman did not want to reveal her identity but wanted to make sure that no one else faced a similar ordeal.

Responding to the incident, Uber released a statement, saying the company has removed the driver from service after an internal investigation.

"What has been described is deeply upsetting. The behaviour of this nature has no place on the Uber app. We internally investigated the matter and the driver partner was immediately barred from accessing the app," a Uber spokesperson said in the statement. 

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