A 48-year-old Rapido cab driver was arrested for allegedly masturbating in front of a woman student during a ride in north Delhi's Maurice Nagar area, police said on Wednesday.
The incident took place on Monday when the 22-year-old woman, a student, had booked a Rapido cab to reach her college in Delhi. The driver, identified as Lom Shankar, allegedly began misbehaving with her and later indulged in the indecent act while she was seated in the vehicle, they said.
There was no immediate response from Rapido over the incident.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said, "The incident took place on Monday when a student was travelling in a Rapido cab. She noticed that the driver's behaviour was suspicious as he asked her to sit in the front seat and then began acting inappropriately.
"The student immediately grew alert and spotted a few of our officers deployed at Kranti Chowk. She approached them and raised an alarm. By the time the officers reached the cab, the driver had fled. We later obtained his details from Rapido and subsequently arrested him," Banthia said.
According to police, the woman, a native of Bengaluru, had shifted to Delhi only two months ago after securing admission in a postgraduate course.
The woman told police that on Monday morning, she was running late for her classes and booked a cab. The app showed an estimated arrival time of 10 minutes, but the driver called her, requesting her not to cancel the ride and assured her that he was on his way.
When she boarded the cab, Shankar first asked her to sit in the front seat, but she declined and chose the rear seat. He allegedly attempted to touch her and soon began masturbating while driving the vehicle, the police said.
Despite her protests and raising an alarm, the driver did not immediately stop the vehicle. After covering some distance, he halted the cab, where the student managed to get out of the vehicle and run, they said.
Following her written complaint, an FIR was registered and Shankar, a resident of Malka Ganj, was arrested. The cab was also seized, the police said.
The forensic and crime team has inspected the vehicle and collected evidence.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
