Hunt on for cab driver who molested woman

The Bommanahalli Police on Monday launched a manhunt for a cab driver accused of molesting a woman passenger. The incident occurred on April 28 when the woman had booked the cab through taxi-hailing app Ola, according to the complaint filed. The suspect, Ravi Kumar, is said to be at large.

The victim, a resident of Koppa Road, returns home after work, late in the night. She had booked the cab from Koramangala to Begur. It was around 2.30 am that she boarded the cab.

“Ravi Kumar was polite till he moved past Bommanahalli signal,” she said.

“After about two kilometres from the signal, he said that the road was blocked and took a deviation. When I insisted on taking the regular route, he stopped the car on the pretext of reversing it and then started touching me inappropriately,” she said.

She was chased
She jumped out of the car and started walking towards safety. Kumar chased her despite her repeated warnings of informing the police and the Ola management, she said.

She took shelter in a hospital and called a friend to pick her up. She approached the police the next day and lodged a complaint.

“I was terrified by Ravi Kumar’s act,” she said, and charged that the Ola management did not respond to her complaint in an appropriate manner.

“They told me that they had verified Kumar’s background before employing him and that there was no complaint against him. There was no answer from them about preventing such instances,” she said.

K Radhakrishna Holla, president, Bengaluru Travel Vehicle Owners Association, sought guidelines to regulate aggregators so as to prevent such incidents.

“Molestations are reported often, but why the government hasn’t taken any action?” he questioned.
The government should bring cases of molestations in cabs to the notice of the court and seek permission to come out with strict regulations, he added.

The ordeal
Victim books cab through Ola on Apr 28
Boards cab at 2.30 am from Koramangala
Driver deviates from route after Bommanahalli signal
Victiminsists on taking the regular route
Stops the car and molests her