An Uber ride to a doctor's clinic turned horrendous for a Delhi woman after the driver allegedly physically assaulted her and twisted her arm. The woman, Bharati Chaturvedi, called the Uber safety and the Delhi Police but allegedly did not receive any support from either. While Chaturvedi managed to get out of the cab with a minor arm injury, it took a viral social media post to get the attention of the concerned authorities to investigate the matter.
In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn, Chaturvedi narrated her ordeal. "Today, for the first time in my life, I was assaulted," Chaturvedi wrote as she recalled the chain of events.
On Wednesday afternoon, Chaturvedi booked an Uber ride from her home in Vasant Vihar to a doctor's appointment in the Sarvodaya Enclave in South Delhi.
"Pollution was brutal, my asthma was flaring, and I could barely breathe or see from the itching eyes and burning scalp," she wrote.
The driver allegedly stopped far from the drop the location. When the passenger asked him to continue with the ride, he "drove a few metres stopped angrily, kept demanding directions, and then suddenly sped past the turn."
Instead of taking a U-turn, the driver allegedly took a left into an unknown lane, deviating from the location, Chaturvedi said. The driver refused to stop and accelerated.
Chaturvedi pushed open the car door, forcing the driver to stop the vehicle. However, the driver allegedly reached back with one hand on the wheel and twisted Chaturvedi's arm.
"I screamed. He stopped. I got out quickly. Mercifully, I had a tiny crossbody with only my phone and asthma inhaler, a little cash," Chaturvedi added.
Chaturvedi said that she called 100 and Uber Safety but didn't receive any response and this, according to her, was evident to the driver, who stood there, taunting her to "go ahead and call the police."
The driver refused to take the payment, Chaturvedi said. Eventually, she took an auto to the doctor's clinic.
"I contacted Uber Safety. First, the AI said I needed to disconnect and call something else if I felt unsafe. I did. Nobody replied. They called back after 4 minutes to say they were "concerned," but since they weren't physically present on ground, they couldn't help. Two hours later, they called me again, repeated the same line," Chaturvedi explained.
Chaturvedi is "disappointed" that the Delhi Police didn't respond. She says it is the belief that the Delhi Police would respond is what made her dial.
It is only after she posted on X, she received a response from Uber and Delhi Police, along with support from friends and horror stories from women.
Uber said, "behaviour like this is absolutely not condoned, and your safety shall always remain a priority." The company asked the passenger to share trip details so that the safety team could reach out to her.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Delhi said the investigation is underway and assured appropriate legal action.
"I'm physically okay-minor pain, major anger," Chaturvedi added.
The incident, according to Chaturvedi, founder of Chintan, Environmental Research and Action Group in Delhi, raises questions on safety mechanism.
"The real issue is this: We are not safe. And we cannot outsource our safety to corporations whose priority is profits and scale, not security. If an Uber ride can turn into a scenario where a driver can twist my arm, but Uber doesn't have a system to check this in a reassuring way, this is serious trouble. It is like boarding a flight with no security check-what does that say about the system we're trusting our lives with?" Chaturvedi said, questioning the accountability.
Chaturvedi concluded her post with a strong remark on women's safety in an Uber, calling it "a privilege and not a guarantee."
