Kolkata woman alleges Uber cab driver masturbated while travelling

She spotted him masturbating while driving and hurriedly got out of the cab on reaching her destination.

Kolkata Police arrested the driver of the Uber cab, Pintu Yadav and was produced before the court on Tuesday following which he was granted bail.

Reports say a driver for ride-sharing app Uber was arrested Monday night for allegedly masturbating while ferrying a 25-year-old woman through the eastern Indian city of Kolkata earlier this month. “During journey she noticed through the looking glass that driver was driving with one hand and masturbating with other”, a senior police officer said.

The woman, who works at a mall in south Kolkata, alleged that the driver deliberately took a detour instead of taking a shorter route and when she protested, the driver started threatening her.

The woman left the cab immediately at Rashbihari area in Kolkata and lodged a complaint against the driver at the Bhawanipur police station.

Yadav was tracked down using his mobile phone tower location and arrested late Monday night, they said.

An FIR was filed against the accused, and the police slapped charges 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) on him. However, she is yet to file any official complaint with police.

Reacting to the development, Uber spokesperson Karun Arya said the driver has been suspended and the company assisted the local authorities with all information during the investigation.

The spokesperson also clarified that the driver had cleared the background check before being appointed by the company.

The incident comes just days after a woman in the national capital had accused a TaxiForSure driver of indulging in vulgar act while he was dropping her from South Delhi’s Saket to Faridabad.