Ola driver held for molesting Belgian woman
Acting swiftly on a complaint lodged by a Belgian woman, who was allegedly molested inside an Ola cab on Saturday evening, the Delhi police arrested the accused driver early Sunday morning from his Gurgaon residence.
A city court sent the accused driver, Balraj Singh, a native of Alwar in Rajasthan, to 14 days in judicial custody after the complainant recognised him in the test identification parade (TIP). The prompt arrest and TIP enabled the woman to leave for her country on Sunday night, as per her original schedule.
The incident prompted Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to ask Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung to submit a report on the alleged crime. “We are committed to the safety and security of all foreign nationals in India,” the Minister tweeted.
The 25-year-old Belgian national, who was on a 90-day tourist visa to India, had hired the Ola cab from MGF Mall in Gurgaon to CR Park in South Delhi around 5.30 pm on Saturday.
On the way, the driver claimed that his phone GPS had stopped functioning and signalled the woman to sit next to him. The woman alleged that Singh suddenly pinned her down and kissed her.
When she protested and asked him to stop the cab, the driver dropped her at a street in Govindpuri. From there the victim made a call to a female friend whose house she was visiting in CR Park. The police were subsequently informed and an FIR was registered around midnight.
The Southeast Delhi district police constituted three teams to nab the suspect. “We sought the registration number of the cab from the Ola authorities and tracked down the vehicle owner. He revealed the driver’s address. The accused was surprised to see us land at his home. He was subsequently arrested and his vehicle was seized,” a senior investigator told The Hindu.
Singh was living alone in Gurgaon Sector 4 and was driving cabs for Ola for over a year now. His family lives in his native village in Rajasthan.
Ola Cabs said in a statement that they had sacked Singh immediately after his alleged crime came to their notice. “We will share all required information with the authorities to help resolve this for the customer,” said the statement from the app-based service provider.
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