Model ‘falsely’ claims sexual harassment by Rapido rider

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

A 21-year-old model and dubbing artist has accused a bike taxi driver of sexually harassing her during a ride in the city. According to her complaint with the Hennur police, she had booked a ride on Rapido to reach her residence in Babusapalya from her office near Jakkur around 10:30 p.m. on Monday.

She further claimed that the driver, identified as Manjunath Tippeswamy, who arrived to pick her up, did not take the OTP number, stating that his mobile phone battery had drained, and instead asked her to guide her to the drop location.

The woman also stated that the driver started touching her inappropriately during the ride, to which she had objected. Later, she approached the police and filed a complaint against the driver. However, the city police had a different version of the story.

Speaking to the reporters on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru East, Bheemashankar S Guled, said that the preliminary investigation in the case had revealed that the woman had booked the ride but had cancelled it later.

“There is no information so far about the accused accepting the ride to pick her up,” he said. Initially, a complaint was registered against the accused under IPC section 354 (A) for sexual assault. Later, the police discarded the case as false, sources from the police added.