Uber driver arrested for molesting foreigner in Mumbai

An Uber taxi driver has been arrested for allegedly molesting a foreign national when she was travelling alone in the cab from suburban Bandra to Versova here, police said today.

The incident took place on Wednesday night but came to light only after a friend of the woman posted about it on Facebook the next day following which the victim approached Santacruz police and lodged a complaint against the accused driver Shehbaaz Shaikh (32). "On the basis of the details provided by the complainant, our team contacted the cab aggregator and sought the driver's details following which he was picked up and arrested yesterday," said a senior police officer.

Soon after Shaikh's arrest, Uber suspended the driver immediately and said it has a policy of zero tolerance in such instances.

Issuing a statement, Uber said, "We have suspended the driver from our platform and have shared all details related to the trip and the driver with the relevant authorities (Mumbai police) for official investigation." According to the Facebook post, the driver first asked the woman passenger to sit in the front seat with him but when she refused to do so, then he came to the rear seat and on the pretext of cleaning the seat, touched her inappropriately.
The woman then tried to push him off and he relented only when she started shouting. She then got off the cab and rushed to her home.