In a shocking incident, a 25-year-old woman has alleged rape by an accomplice of an Ola driver during the ride.
The incident happened on Thursday night when she booked the cab from her workplace in Noida Sector-126 to Surajpur. When she boarded the cab, it was already occupied by a person, who, according to the driver, was his cousin. The driver told her that the occupant will be dropped on the way.
But, the other person never got down. The driver and the accomplice reportedly consumed beer on the way. Later, the driver left the woman at a deserted location, leaving her with his cousin, who raped her.
However, Ola has denied that any such ride was booked through the company’s platform.
Responding to the incident, an Ola spokesperson said, ”We regret the unfortunate incident. However, we will like to clarify that the ride was not booked on our platform.”
Interestingly, two days ago Ola formed India’s first Safety Council for app-based cabs.
Besides focusing on cutting down accidents and improving road safety, the council promises to inform and sensitize driver partners about women’s safety and respect.
Ola, Uber fail to provide security
The alleged incident is not new with the cab-hailing companies in India as it has happened multiple times in the past.
In December last year, an incident happened in Bengaluru when an Ola driver allegedly harassed a 23-year-old fashion stylist travelling in his cab.
In 2014, the country went into a shock after a rape incident committed by an Uber driver raped.
Later, the victim sued the company, its former CEO Travis Kalanick and former executives, Eric Alexander and Emil Michael, after they reportedly met Delhi Police and accessed her medical files after the rape. Both of them were fired following the incident.
In December last year, the ride-hailing behemoth settled a lawsuit with the victim.
