Uber driver assaulted by unmasked rider: 'People all over have experienced this'
An Uber driver in San Francisco who was assaulted by an unmasked passenger has spoken out about the incident, saying that he was attacked after asking the woman to get out of the vehicle and taunted because of his race and job.
Video of the incident went viral, prompting a police investigation an an outpouring of support for the driver, Subhakar Khadka. In an interview with the Guardian, Khadka, who is from Nepal, said that between constant feelings of anxiety, fielding calls from media outlets and talking to family and friends back home, he has only gotten about three hours of sleep each night since the footage came out.
Khadka described himself as a private person who just wants to work and support his family overseas. And while the recognition he is receiving is overwhelming, he was glad to have video evidence of abuse that often goes unacknowledged.
“It’s not just the people in Ubers and Lyfts, it’s also people who work in gas stations. People from all over the world reach out to tell me they’ve experienced and report this type of behavior but because of lack of evidence it doesn’t go anywhere and people learn to live with it,” Khadka said.
“I hope this can serve as an example so we can raise enough awareness so that when someone is assaulted hopefully they speak up and justice can be served,” he added.
Footage appears to capture the culmination of an incident that Khadka said began when he picked up three women on Sunday afternoon, and unfolded over several blocks.
The video shows Khadka being berated and coughed on by one of the women, who was riding in the back seat of his car without a mask.
Khadka said he picked up the three women early on Sunday afternoon. He said the woman seated in the middle seat did not have a mask on, despite Uber’s policy that riders must prove everyone is wearing a face covering before confirming their ride. Khadka began to drive off, but once he noticed the unmasked woman he reminded them of the policy and pulled over. The women asked him if he had an extra mask. Khadka told them he didn’t, and he said that was when things started going downhill.
“They tried to make it look like it was my fault even though they ordered Uber without a mask,” Khadka said. “The girl that assaulted me started taunting me and asking how I could stop a car in the middle of nowhere but we were half a block from where I picked them up.”
Khadka said he then pulled into a gas station so the rider could buy a mask. While she was in the store the other two passengers allegedly began a barrage of violent threats and insults.
“Before the girl came back with her mask I had to listen to taunts about how they could shoot me in the face and call their boyfriends and cousins on me,” he recalls. “They talked about how small my testicles are because of my race. They called me a goofy-ass N-word after every sentence.”
By the time the passenger came back to the car with a pack of masks, Khadka decided that the trip was not worth the risk to his safety. “I told them that the ride was over and to please get out of the car,” Khadka said. “They kept taunting me, telling me that I’m nobody and that they would stay in the car. It was three ladies versus one guy who can’t even verbally defend himself in English.”
Khadka said that he turned his camera on when he realized they weren’t budging, and that was when the woman started coughing into his face and screaming at him. Seconds later the video shows the woman snatching Khadka’s cellphone out of his hand.
Khadka claimed that one of the women sprayed Mace inside the car after getting out. “She emptied her pepper spray can in my car. I accidentally put my hand on my face and it started hurting,” he recalls.
San Francisco police have said they are investigating the incident.
Both Uber and Lyft tweeted that the rider who refused to wear a mask had been permanently removed from their platforms. She has since appeared to try to contextualize her actions in an Instagram video, admitting that she was wrong for coughing on Khadka, but she said that she was scared for her and her fellow passengers’ safety because Khadka allegedly tried to kick them out in an unfamiliar area and refused to wait until a new rideshare arrived.
The woman in the video has not responded to the Guardian’s request for further comment.
Khadka said he had been driving for Uber for three years but left when the pandemic began and started driving on and off for UPS. The decline in Covid-19 infections and vaccine rollout encouraged him to come back in January. Weeks later he was accosted.
“I don’t know how much time I’m gonna have to take to recover,” he said.
Khadka said that Uber initially offered him $20 in cleaning fees. “The frustration was that I asked for the cleaning fee and then they gave me $20 then $40 but I knew the extent of the damage to my car. Those droplets are everywhere; it’s not safe to drive. I explained that and nothing was done.”
Khadka said the company has since deposited $250 – the estimate for cleaning that Khadka sent to Uber – in his bank account, and when his story became international news, a representative for the company offered more money in medical expenses and to compensate for the time he is taking off of work.
Uber said it offered him additional money and other forms of support in recent days, according to an email sent to the Guardian. Khadka said he has yet to accept their offers for additional compensation.