Kerala: Uber driver ‘misbehaves’ with techie, arrested

An Uber driver was arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a woman IT professional of Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, the police said on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old driver was arrested on a complaint from “Prathidhwani”, a socio-cultural outfit of the Technopark IT employees. “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,” a senior police officer said.

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

The driver made attempts to befriend the woman during the journey, the complaint said. While the car was about to reach Aakkulam, he grabbed her leg below the knee. According to the complaint, she shouted and asked him to stop the car. When he parked the vehicle, she alighted. The driver then apologised and left, the complaint said.

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 other woman faced a similar ordeal.