For this Bengaluru woman, a night out turned out be a terrifying ordeal as her Ola cab driver allegedly molested her after attempting to take a detour from her route.
On the night of April 28, Aarti*, a singer by profession, boarded an Ola cab in Koramangala. She was headed for her home in Begur, after a night out in Koramangala. At around 2.15 am a silver coloured Tata Indica arrived to pick her up.
“I was at a karaoke night in Koramangala. After we wrapped up, I booked an Ola and I got into the cab at around 2.15am. We were 5 km away from my house, when the driver, Ravikumar, suddenly stopped near Kabab Zone on Begur Road. When I asked him why he had stopped, the driver said that he was going to take a detour,” Aarti said.
Aarti then told Ravikumar to follow the map as she had entered the accurate location.
“He was sitting still for a moment or two. He suddenly turned back and grabbed my breast. I tried to push him away but he continued molesting me. I started screaming and I did it really loudly but no one was coming to help me. I then knew that there was no one else to help me and I had to fend for myself. I was panicking but I managed to push him and jump out of the car,” Aarti recounts.
She then realised that Ravikumar had deliberately chosen a location that was deserted.
“I just ran. I don’t know which direction I was running. I looked back to see if he was following me but he was speeding away,” Aarti added.
She then managed to find a small clinic nearby, where she took shelter and waited for her friend to come get her.
Aarti immediately went to the Bommanahalli police station to file a complaint against Ravi Kumar.
“When I went to file an FIR with my friend, one of the cops in the station asked my friend if my complaint was genuine. He wanted to know if I was doing it to get attention. Is this how the police treat people who go through the ordeal of molestation?” Aarti questioned.
Although the police registered the FIR, Aarti said that she has been scared to go out alone ever since the incident occurred.
“I will feel that justice has been done if the police arrest this driver. But that does not mean that I can’t stop thinking about what happened. Those images are always going to be in my head and I am always going to remember what happened to me. His arrest may satisfy me but I still feel scared to be alone,” Aarti said.
An Ola spokesperson in Bangalore said that they would like to investigate the incident further before making a statement.
*name changed