Offduty Uber driver offers ride to mentally ill woman, rapes her
An off-duty Uber taxi driver allegedly raped a 38-yearold woman at his Ghaziabad home after picking her from Karkardooma court in New Delhi, police said on Sunday.
The woman suffers from a medical condition, possibly akin to Alzheimer’s or amnesia, which impairs her ability to remember things.
The 45-year-old cabbie was arrested and charged with sodomising the woman and “brutally beating” her up when she resisted the sexual abuse.
The woman lives in east Delhi’s Trilokpuri with her children. She is mentally disturbed as she doesn’t have a job and is saddled with domestic troubles.
A domestic issue brought her to Karkardooma court in east Delhi on Thursday. After finishing her court work, she was standing near gate number 4 when she met the cabbie.
During their conversation, she mentioned her desperation and asked him if he could employ her as a maid or get her a job elsewhere.
“The driver told her he would let his wife decide and asked her to accompany him to his home in his car. They went to his home in Gokal Dham Society near the Hindon river in Ghaziabad,” said Ravinbdra Yadav, the joint com- missioner of police (eastern range).
The cabbie’s wife and four children were not at home and the man allegedly used the opportunity to rape and assault the woman. He brought the woman to the gates of the court complex and dumped her there, before driving away.
The car is attached to appbased taxi service Uber, but police found it was not hired by the woman.In deep pain, the woman visited a government hospital in east Delhi.
“Doctors there realised she was sexually assaulted and called police,” said Nupur Prasad, the deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara).
When police spoke to her, she couldn’t remember either the identity of the suspect or the name of place she was taken to.
“We helped her recollect her conversation with the driver. She gradually remembered the accused mentioning Gokal Dham Society,” said an investigator.
Police looked up for localities named Gokal Dham in New Delhi before shifting to Noida and Ghaziabad.
“It’s a small housing society in Ghaziabad. When she was taken to the locality the next day, the victim helped us identify the home and pointed out the accused when he was sighted,” the investigator said.
The taxi driver has not committed any crime before, police said. When contacted for a response, Uber said police have not approached the company yet about the alleged crime.
The case reignited a debate about the safety of women in New Delhi, which is often dubbed India’s rape capital.
THE 45YEAROLD CABBIE HAS BEEN HELD AND CHARGED WITH SODOMISING THE WOMAN AND ‘BRUTALLY BEATING’ HER UP