"Not Safe In Our Own Country": Northeast Woman Shares Bengaluru Ordeal

A shocking incident of discrimination has surfaced in Bengaluru, with a woman alleging that she was abused by an Uber auto driver since she is from the Northeast. The woman posted a video of her ordeal on Instagram, showing the auto driver telling her to speak in Kannada, a language she doesn't understand, and even trying to hit her.

Bengaluru Police has sought more details from the woman, while Uber has apologized for the incident.

Enn Bii said the confrontation followed a ride cancellation on October 2. She alleged the auto driver didn't turn up despite the app showing her ride had arrived. Since she was getting late, she cancelled the ride and took another auto.

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A post shared by Enn Bii (@ennbii040)

The driver, Pavan HS, arrived soon after and blocked her path. He demanded money, abused me, tried to hit me, and even took videos of me, Bii claimed.

What exacerbated the situation was the language problem. The driver kept speaking to her in Kannada despite being told she didn't know the language, the video showed.

"He's abusing me like this because I'm from the Northeast," she was heard saying in the video. At one point, the video showed Bii reading out the auto's registration number when the driver tried to hit her. "He's trying to hit me," she cried out.

"We are not even safe in our own country," she later posted on Instagram.

Responding to her post, Bengaluru City Police sought the location of the incident and her contact number.

Uber has called it an extremely concerning behaviour and escalated it to a specialised team for review.

"What has been described is unfortunate and has no place on the Uber platform. Based on the rider's feedback, the driver's access to the Uber app was revoked with immediate effect. We continue to support the law enforcement authorities with all relevant information," said a company spokesperson.