Kochi: It’s three days since a Uber taxi driver was assaulted by three women who booked the online cab under a share taxi scheme, but wanted the rider in it to be offloaded. The rider P.A. Shinoj, 34, an accountant, still cannot believe the trio got away with the cops lodging only petty charges against them. “I boarded the taxi from Shenoy’s junction and was heading for work in my company located at Vadekkekkara, Trippunithura. The trio had also booked the Uber Pool and were waiting at Vytilla junction to board the car,” he said.
“When they initially refused to get into the car, I offered to go to the front seat, but they wanted me ousted. Then the driver asked them to cancel the taxi which they refused to do. Instead they thrashed him black and blue and verbally abused him throughout the melee,” he said. The witness said the trio tried to humiliate the driver by tearing away his clothes in public.
“There was no provocation from Shafeek, the driver. He tried to make them understand the taxi pooling scheme launched by Uber a week ago, but the women refused to listen,” Shinoj said. Even when passers-by and local shop-owners pleaded with the women to stop, they continued to hit him, even with a stone. “The cops while taking my statement on Wednesday, hours after the incident, had said stringent charges would be filed against them, but I was shocked to see they were released on the same day,” he said.
Meanwhile, the cops said they would check visuals from the CCTVs of shops in the locality based on reports. “It’s basically an argument gone wrong. The women were not drunk,” they said. The accused women Clara Shibin, 28, from Alakode in Kannur district, Sheeja Afsal, 30, from Pathanamthitta and Angel Mary, 36, from Alakode, Kannur, are residents of Kochi and are associated with the television industry, police said.
