Bengaluru Bike-taxi Ride In Night Gone Wrong For Woman As Driver Changes Route To Molest Her At Isolated Place

A bike-taxi driver changed the route to the destination and allegedly sexually harassed a 28-year-old woman in Bengaluru. According to the complainant, the incident took place between 11:40 pm and 12:00 am on July 5.

The woman, a resident of Radha Reddy Layout on Sarjapur Road and store supervisor in a hotel, said in her complaint to Bellandur Police that she booked a bike taxi at 11:20 pm to have dinner with her husband who also works in the same hotel.

The bike-taxi captain, Biswajit Nath, in his early 20s, picked up the woman from her residence at 11:40 pm. On his way to the destination, the driver changed his route, claiming he was taking an alternative road due to waterlogging.

“He claimed that due to waterlogging, he’s taking alternative roads. Meanwhile, I got a call from my friend, and I spoke to her in Bengali. Biswajit asked me if I was Bengali and he started conversing with me in the language. He took me to an isolated place and stopped the bike. When I questioned him, he started touching me inappropriately and asked me to cooperate with him,” the woman was quoted by TOI as saying.

The woman tried to escape, but the accused ran behind her and slapped her. “He snatched my mobile phone and cash too. I pleaded with him to leave me unharmed. After almost 30 minutes, he realised that I won’t give up. I requested him to drop me at the location or home as I was not aware of which place it was, and there were hardly any people in the area,” she added.

The accused then dropped her off at RMZ Ecoworld returned her phone and left with Rs 800. “I could not note down his bike number. My husband came and picked me up. Rapido responded to my complaint, stating they would terminate Biswajit. They gave me his name and mobile number. I filed a complaint,” the woman noted.

Police traced down the bike-taxi captain who refused the allegations levelled at him calling it a “misunderstanding”.

Biswajit claimed that he took alternative roads because of waterlogging on the main road and the passenger misunderstood him. He stated that the passenger wanted to be dropped a few metres away from the location and refused to pay the fare so he forcibly took money from her and left.

Police are verifying both the accounts.