Autorickshaw driver seeks forgiveness for abusing rider

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: After drawing flak for his “unruly behaviour” towards a bike-taxi rider in the city, an autorickshaw driver has apologised in public, while claiming that he had acted in frustration.

Identified as Manjunath, the autorickshaw driver was seen in a video clip harassing and threatening a Rapido bike-taxi rider and calling him 'an outsider.' The auto driver alleged that bike-taxis are taking away autorickshaw customers.

"As you can all see, this youth is from another country. He happily operates a bike-taxi here. This shows how the department reeks of corruption. This boy just dropped off a lady passenger on his illegally-run bike-taxi. He is not even from our country. He is an outsider," Manjunath can be heard saying in the video clip that has gone viral on social media.

According to the police, the incident took place near the Indiranagar Metro Station around 12.30 pm on February 6. The bike-taxi driver, reportedly from the northeast, is studying in the city and had merely taken up the job to support his tuition fees.

In the video clip, he can be seen looking horrified without retaliating to Manjunath, who went a step further and smashed one of the helmets that the youth had in his scooter for his customers. According to sources, the video was shot by an onlooker who later shared it on social media platforms tagging the police and requesting action.

However, it was too late until the autorickshaw driver realised his mistake and requested Bengaluru citizens not to share the video. Following public outcry, a complaint was registered against Manjuanth at the jurisdictional police station. Humbled by the citizens reaction, Manjunath, on Monday, accepted his mistake and apologised for his action.

"I made a big mistake that day. I was frustrated when I did not get any customers despite waiting for almost two hours and seeing the youth dropping off a passenger made me angry," he said. He asked for the video of his apology to be captured and shared to the man as the student had reportedly returned to his native. "We are all Indians and I should not have called him an 'outsider' and a 'foreigner’. I realise my mistake now," he added.

Manjunath requested that the government bring some measures so that no business is affected. While it is encouraging to see people acknowledging that their behaviour is unacceptable and that they regret their actions, these apologies only seem to be issued when they are caught red-handed.