Ola cab driver held for sexually harassing, threatening passenger

POLICE SAID THE WOMAN, A LAWYER, ALLEGED THE DRIVER WAS CONSTANTLY STARING AT HER IN THE MIRROR SOON AFTER SHE BOARDED HIS CAB FROM GURUGRAM TO REACH THE DELHI

HIGH COURT

nNEW DELHI: A 38-year-old Ola driver has been arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a woman and threatening her when she was travelling in his cab from Gurugram to central Delhi on Thursday afternoon, police said.

The cab driver was arrested on Friday after police identified him, they said.

Police said the woman, a lawyer, alleged the driver was constantly staring at her in the mirror soon after she boarded his cab from Gurugram to reach the Delhi High Court.

“The cab driver indulged in obscenity. When she shouted at him and said she would call the police, he threatened her,” said a senior police officer, who did not want to be named.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi district) Deepak Yadav said the crime came to their notice after the woman called the police control room near the high court.

The cab driver dropped her and fled with the car as soon as she informed the police.

“She gave a written complaint on the basis of which a case under sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code was registered at the Tilak Marg police station,” Yadav said.

Another police officer said the suspect was identified as Satish Sharma, a resident of Delhi’s Nilothi, with the help of the cab booking details provided by the complainant.

Sharma was asked to join the probe.

“We arrested him after interrogation,” added the officer.

The police are checking if Sharma was previously involved in similar acts or crimes.

An Ola spokesperson confirmed that the suspect driver was ‘off-roaded’ immediately upon receipt of the complaint.