Bengaluru City Police reacted the incident, asking for more details. (Representative pic)
A social media user recently shared a harrowing incident involving his female friend who allegedly faced sexual assault by a Rapido auto driver in Bengaluru. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), user Ankur Bagchi (@JustAnkurBagchi) narrated the incident that took place on Wednesday. He revealed that his friend not only experienced inappropriate touching by the Rapido auto driver but also was forcibly thrown out from the moving vehicle when she resisted. He accused the company of enabling sexual predators and urged others not to use the aggregator service.
“Rapido enables sexual predators. Do not use Rapido. One of my friends got sexually assaulted last night by a @rapidobikeapp auto driver. She was touched inappropriately and when she pushed back, she was thrown out of a moving auto,” Mr Bagchi wrote on Thursday.
Rapido enables sexual predators. Do not use Rapido.
One of my friends got sexually assaulted last night by a @rapidobikeapp auto driver. She was touched inappropriately and when she pushed back, she was thrown out of a moving auto.
She reached out to Rapido to resolve this and…
— Ankur Bagchi (v/sig — Virtue Signaller) (@JustAnkurBagchi) November 30, 2023
The X user further disclosed that initially, despite his friend filing a complaint with Rapido, the company merely apologised without providing any details about the auto-rickshaw driver. “We’re working on sorting this out, but in the meantime she needs medical care,” Mr Bagchi wrote, adding, “Be safe. Tell your female friends and family not to use Rapido”.
Mr Bagchi’s post soon caught the attention of many social media users. It also saw a response from Bengaluru City Police, who asked for more details of the incident. “Please provide specific area details of the incident and your contact number via DM,” the cops wrote.
Please provide specific area details of the incident and your contact number via DM.
— ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಗರ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) November 30, 2023
In another post, Mr Bagchi then shared that an First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the driver. He also praised Rapido for their help in dealing with the issue.
“@JustAnkurBagchi As discussed with the customer, Rapido is getting the captain to the HAL police station at 4:30pm to proceed legally on this,” Rapido Cares wrote in response to Mr Bagchi’s tweet.
@JustAnkurBagchi As discussed with the customer, Rapido is getting the captain to the HAL police station at 4:30pm to proceed legally on this.
— Rapido Cares (@RapidoCares) November 30, 2023
“Following up on this matter, the captain has been terminated permanently and barred from our platform,” the company informed. “We apologize again for the captain’s unethical behaviour. We have acknowledged your complaint and the basis on which we have barred the rider from our platform,” it wrote in another post.
