Kolkata: A 27-year-old Kolkata resident was in for a nightmare ride on a cab she had booked on Monday night.
According to reports, the woman had booked a Uber cab along with her friend, at JD Block in Salt Lake at 10 pm on Monday. Her friend alighted at Aranya Bhavan, following which the cab driver took an unnecessary left and began speeding.
When the cab reached Bijan Bhavan, the driver took another left, and when the woman protested, he became angry.
"The lanes were deserted so I insisted on taking the main road. He agreed and continued to drive till FD block, where he again tried to enter a lane on the left," the woman said. While she protested the driver said the lane would save time.
The driver continued to argue with her until he passed the area she was supposed to alight at. When she demanded that he stop, he flew into a rage and threatened to rape her.
"Akdom chup! Toke kidnap kore rape kore debo (Shut up! I will kidnap and rape you)”, he said.
Hearing this, the woman began shouting for help. But the road was deserted, so she opened the door and jumped out. The driver then decided to reverse the car and came speeding towards her. He shouted, “toke garir talay pishe marbo (I will crush you under the car)”.
She jumped on the footpath and managed to save herself. She filed a complaint with Uber and Bidhannagar North police station the next day. Uber called her up and said they would suspend the driver.
Police tracked down the driver at Patauli on Tuesday night, and he was remanded to custody for 14 days.
The woman's lawyer Saumyajit Raha said that Santu Parmanik has been charged under IPC 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman to outrage her modesty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
