Karnataka: Woman jumps off Rapido Bike after driver snatched her phone and tried groping her

A 30-year-old woman jumped off a moving Rapido bike to save herself from the driver in Bengaluru, an official said on April 26. She alleged that the driver tried to grope her and snatched her phone. The incident took place on April 21.

The News Agency ANI shared a CCTV footage of the said incident on Twitter with the caption, “Bengaluru, Karnataka: Woman jumps off a moving motorbike after the rapido driver allegedly tried to grope her & snatched her phone

On 21st April, woman booked a bike to Indiranagar, driver allegedly took her phone on pretext of checking OTP & started driving towards wrong direction. Accused Deepak was arrested and sent to judicial custody”

As per the reports, the driver met the woman at around 11:10 pm on the night of the incident. He took her phone on the pretext of checking the OTP (one-time password) for starting the ride, but instead changed the drop location from Indiranagar to Doddaballapura. The driver was identified as Deepak Rao, a 27-year-old a resident of Tindlu.

The victim finally jumped off the moving bike near BMS institute of technology and the biker fled away. In the CCTV footage, the victim is seen jumping off the bike to save herself from the molester.

DCP Northeast, Laxmi Prasad, said, “In our division, this is the first case. Our commissioner called on all cab aggregators, bike taxi services, and food delivery partners to discuss the safety of women and citizens.”

Notably, there have been instances of sexual assault with women by Rapido drivers in the past as well.

A 22-year-old woman was allegedly raped by the driver of a Rapido bike and his friend in Bengaluru on 24 November 2022. The driver and his friend were identified as Shahabuddin and Arafat Sharif respectively.

The woman told the police that first she partied at her friend’s house in BTM layout. Then she booked a ‘Rapido’ bike taxi around 12.45 am to visit another friend’s house in the Electronic city area.

The bike driver, finding her drunk and not in her senses took, her to his house in Neeladrinagar where he allegedly raped her.

The next day on 26 November, the woman visited a private hospital for a checkup as she was not feeling well. She complained of body-ache. The doctors in the hospital, suspecting a sexual assault, alerted the police.