look news india
A very shocking and serious case regarding women’s safety has come to light from Bengaluru city, which is called the Silicon Valley of the country. During the Pink Ride of ‘Rapido’, a company providing app-based bike taxi and cab services, a woman passenger was misbehaved and made uncomfortable. While sharing her ordeal on social media, the woman has alleged that during the journey, the rider not only tried to be overly friendly with her, but also forcibly held her hand while taking back the helmet. After this incident, a big debate has once again erupted on social media regarding the safety of women and background verification of app-based transport companies.
Cab was booked amid rain on repeated requests of rider
The victim, named Srishti, shared full details of her horrific incident on social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter). He has also posted screenshots of his booking confirmation and online payment receipt as proof. Srishti told that it was raining heavily on the day of the incident, due to which she was initially confused about booking the ride.
However, the riders continuously requested them not to cancel their bookings in view of the weather. The woman, out of pity, did not cancel the ride, but little did she know that her decision would cause so much mental trouble for her. Right from the beginning of the journey, the rider’s behavior was not normal and he was trying to cross the personal boundaries of the passenger.
Uncomfortable actions during travel and insistence on asking for phone number
According to Srishti, the rider left no stone unturned to make her feel uncomfortable throughout the journey. Even though the woman had earphones in her ears, the rider kept turning to her repeatedly to ask if she was feeling comfortable. He also offered them to wear his raincoat, which was not needed.
The matter became more serious and scary when the bike reached their destination i.e. the gate of their society. According to Srishti, when he returned the helmet to the rider, the man deliberately and forcefully held his hand for several seconds And he started looking at her with a strange smile, due to which the woman was horrified. After this, when he asked for the QR code to make online payment, the rider avoided it saying that his phone was not working due to rain and he insisted on asking Srishti for the QR code. asked for mobile number. However, showing caution, the woman clearly refused to give the number and somehow completed the payment by arranging for the QR code.
Even after the ride was over, the rider kept hovering outside the society for 15 minutes.
The trouble did not end here. Even after the payment was made and the ride was over, when Srishti felt it was unsafe to go inside her society, she stayed at the main gate for about 15 minutes. During this, he saw that instead of going away, the rider was parking his bike there and hovering around.
Frightened, the woman told the entire incident to a security guard of her society and asked him to drive the man away from there. But see the wickedness of that rider that even after being told by the guard, he stood there for five more minutes making the excuse that he was using his phone. Ultimately, when the guard sternly threatened him for the second time to leave, he left after about 10-15 minutes. After this entire incident, Srishti was deeply shocked and raised the question whether it is completely safe to travel through such app-based services in today’s time?
Rapido company took strict action, suspended the accused rider forever
As soon as this post of the woman went viral on social media, the Bengaluru Police and the official management of Rapido Company swung into action. Seeing the issue gaining momentum, Rapido immediately took cognizance of it and contacted the woman through its official handle and apologized.
In its statement, the company took this unwanted physical contact and harassing behavior very seriously. Rapido said in clear words that the safety of passengers is of paramount importance in their services and there is no place for such behavior in the company. The company took immediate action and arrested the accused ‘Captain’ (rider). Permanent Ban from Rapido platform Is done. On one hand, the company has heaved a sigh of relief after this quick action, on the other hand, civil society and women’s safety organizations say that companies should do police verification and mental assessment of riders very strictly before recruiting them.