A 25-year-old air hostess was allegedly molested by a rider from an app-based bike service in New Delhi’s Chanakyapuri area last week, police reported on Tuesday. The accused, Jaiveer, 35, was apprehended in Gurgaon within 12 hours of the incident. Originally from Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh, Jaiveer had been working with the taxi bike service inDrive in Delhi for the past year.
The incident occurred around 11:45 p.m. on August 7. According to the police, the woman had booked a ride through inDrive around 11 p.m. from Laxmi Nagar to her home in Dwarka, after visiting a friend. The rider arrived at her pickup spot within 15 minutes. However, as they approached Simon Bolivar Marg near Buddha Jayanti Park, Jaiveer allegedly tried to change the route, despite following the map on his phone. The woman protested, and shortly afterward, it began raining heavily. The rider then asked her to take shelter under a tree.
The woman claimed that, in the secluded area, Jaiveer attempted to molest her and pulled her towards him. She raised an alarm, which caught the attention of a Scorpio driver who stopped nearby and began honking. This caused the rider to flee the scene on his bike. The driver then offered assistance to the woman and dropped her at a nearby Metro station at her request. She later went to her friend’s house in Vasant Kunj, where the friend’s mother called the police.
DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla stated that a case has been filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 74 (assaulting or using criminal force to outrage a woman’s modesty) and Section 76 (assaulting or using criminal force with the intention of disrobing) at Chanakyapuri Police Station.
After receiving the police report, inDrive suspended Jaiveer’s registration. The company stated, “inDrive maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy towards any act and/or omission which is offensive and/or unlawful by any user and strongly condemns such behaviour.”
A spokesperson for inDrive also highlighted the safety features available in the app, including a shield icon for quickly contacting support, the police, or an ambulance. Additionally, users can save the phone number of a trusted person for quick contact in an emergency, which can be added at any time, even during a ride. The spokesperson emphasized, “At inDrive, user safety and satisfaction, especially women’s safety, is always a top priority, and we deeply regret and feel sorry for this incident experienced by our user.”
