A bike taxi driver and his friend have been arrested by the Bengaluru South East Police for allegedly gang-raping a woman who hailed the taxi. The 22-year-old woman from Kerala had visited Bengaluru on an assignment and had hailed a bike taxi from BTM Layout to Electronic City on Thursday, November 24. The Rapido driver Shahabuddin took the 22-year-old victim to his house which was in the vicinity of the place she was staying in. According to the police Shahabuddin and his friend Akhtar raped the woman in the house. The survivor filed the complaint a few days after the incident.
A female friend of the duo has also been arrested. “A woman who was present at the house when the incident took place has also been arrested. She also provided the police with false information to protect the other accused,” Deputy Commissioner of Police South-East division Bengaluru, CK Baba told TNM.
According to reports, Shahabuddin had misbehaved with the victim when he had stopped the taxi at a shop on the way to Electronic City. According to The Hindu, the police is doing a background check of the accused persons to check if they were involved in similar offences. Reports also mentioned that when the victim regained consciousness, the accused let her free. However, they threatened her not to reveal the issue to anyone.