Bengaluru: Uber has done it again. The cab aggregator is this time in the dock over a lewd driver, who allegedly masturbated at a traffic signal while ferrying a woman passenger from HSR Layout to SG Palya late Tuesday evening at around 8 pm.
The woman’s brother took to Twitter to complain, alerting the police, which is treating the case as high priority and is on the lookout for the Uber cab driver.
The woman commuter, Abhilasha Singh (name changed) herself wrote on Twitter, “@Uber_BLR - Harassment on roads. You have creepy drivers on board. It is a tough life out there for women. I am sickened.”
Uber woke up to the incident only by 4.30 pm Wednesday evening although the complaints were posted on Twitter the previous evening, to say, “We certainly take this very seriously.”
The Twitter complaint by Ms Singh’s brother said the incident took place on Outer Ring Road. It read, “Soon after my sister boarded from HSR Layout sector 7, the accused driver stopped the car multiple times in the slow moving traffic. While waiting at the Silk Board signal, the driver started to touch himself while the car was stationary, and continued the lewd gesture until she reached home.”
The brother said on reaching home, his sister confronted the driver but he denied doing anything lewd. But later when she threatened to lodge a formal complaint with the police, he apologised for his conduct, saying, “Sorry madam, please give me a five star rating.” “What is more disheartening is that despite making the complaint immediately, the company didn’t take any action till Wednesday noon,” the brother said.
When contacted by Deccan Chronicle, the Uber spokesperson said, “We have spoken to both the rider and driver. The driver was wait-listed immediately after we received the complaint. We have provided all the information that has been asked for by the authorities to help them with their investigation.”
Not first time
July 4, 2015: Roopasri, a resident of Electronics City was allegedly abused and harassed by a Uber cab driver. A formal complaint was lodged with the Jnanabharthi police station and the driver was dismissed by the company.
