September 4, 2024, was a day of doom unraveled in Bengaluru:
An Ola auto driver hurled an attack on a woman and commented defaming as she canceled the ride on the app.
Victim Niti shared the incident on social media:
“I booked an auto around peak hours, but since there came another auto upfront my friend canceled our booking with Muthuraj. This routine cancellation had apparently flared up the driver, who started harassing the women after chasing them down.
Muthuraj berated Niti and her friend, saying that they ‘wasted his time’ and demanded that they pay for his fuel charges. As the situation turned ugly, he began to use derogatory remarks and yelled loudly at the girls. Niti felt the threat and started recording it with her mobile; this provoked him further.
He tried snatching the phone from her and slapped her after she refused to give the phone to him. Everything happened in broad daylight, yet people who were passing by did nothing to save the girls.
The whole incident came out and was shared widely on social media, instantly evoking outrage among the public. In no time, the video had gone viral, and the netizens were seeking justice.
Niti took to X and posted:
“Yesterday I faced severe harassment and was physically assaulted by your auto driver in Bangalore after a simple ride cancellation.” She tagged both the police at Bengaluru and Ola to ask for urgent action.
This viral video led to an incredibly quick response from the police when Deputy Commissioner of Police, West, said that Muthuraj had been arrested.
He was booked under charges of physical assault and harassment and prosecution initiated.
The arrest notwithstanding, the incident sparked heated debate about the safety of women who use public transport and ride-hailing services in Bengaluru, with scores coming forward with similar stories of harassment by auto drivers.
Ola, the service through which the auto was booked, responded in a statement that sounded pretty concerned: “We have asked Niti for more details to assist in the investigation.
We will investigate this and take the necessary action.” But for many users, this response from Ola did not quite cut it, as they drew parallels with other cases where the customer support of the company has fallen flat while people were in distress.
This incident has sent shockwaves over the growing trend of abusive behavior by auto drivers in the city, especially on how they handle cancellations of rides.
While cancellation of rides is a common phenomenon on app-based services, it should not lead to harassment or assault; yet, many of the users pointed out that auto drivers here often get aggressive or demand extra compensation in case of cancellations.
The incident, once again, highlights the need for more stringent laws and safety measures to make passengers-safe, especially women, in such situations.
While Muthuraj undergoes the due process of law, including even a possible sentence of death, the general concern remains on how incidents of this type could be avoided in the future.
These calls have come to offer increased accountability for ride-hailing firms by way of more stringent background checks on the drivers and enhancement of customers’ service with swift punitive actions in cases of misbehavior.
It brought the larger issue of safety in public transportation into the limelight, whereby citizens and activists demanded more robust protective measures for women.
The fact that Muthuraj has been arrested, this incident grimly underlines the dire need for reform in the ride-hailing industry:
To make sure women feel safe availing those services. For platforms like Ola, proactive steps would have to be taken vis-à-vis monitoring driver behavior and handling complaints and protecting their customers.
Public outrage over an incident like this serves to show that any slack on these fronts is likely to invite greater scrutiny and a desire for change.
