Cab driver arrested for molesting minor girl

A 23-year-old Uber driver, Shreyansh Pandey, was arrested for allegedly harassing a 14-year-old girl during her ride from Dadar to Powai.

MUMBAI: A 23-year-old Uber driver has been arrested for allegedly harassing and molesting a 14-year-old girl while taking her from Dadar to her residence in Powai.

Cab driver arrested for molesting minor girl

The accused, identified as Shreyansh Pandey, allegedly kept staring at the girl throughout the journey, took several different routes instead of the regular one to her house, tried touching her on the pretext of seeing her phone, kept asking her if she wanted a cigarette, and even stopped at an isolated place claiming that the vehicle had broken down.

The Dadar police arrested Pandey on Wednesday and booked him for sexual harassment under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, when the 14-year-old girl was returning home from a summer camp in Dadar, according to an officer from the Dadar police station.

“After the camp ended on Tuesday, her father booked an Uber for her around 4.30 pm. The driver was supposed to drop her off at Powai. Instead, he took her to the Eastern Express Highway and from there to various narrow lanes to confuse her. He stopped at one isolated spot, claiming there was a problem with the vehicle, and even started making rounds of the vehicle,” said the police officer.

Later, under the pretext of inquiring about her mobile phone, the driver allegedly touched the minor girl inappropriately. He kept on asking her if she wanted a cigarette and played loud music, said the police officer. “He was continuously staring at her throughout the journey, which made the girl very uncomfortable,” added the police officer.

The girl eventually called her father, who asked her to tell the driver to stop the vehicle, but he allegedly refused, police said. “The father then spoke to the driver on his daughter’s phone. The driver told him that he would drop the girl near her house. However, he dropped her a little far from her house and fled,” said the police officer.

The girl’s family approached the police on Wednesday. Based on their complaint, the police registered a case against the driver under sections 75 (sexual harassment) and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the BNS and section 12 (punishment for sexual harassment) of the Pocso Act.

“We traced the driver, who had been identified as Shreyas Pandey, 23, a resident of Powai, and arrested him,” said the police officer. Uber did not respond to a request for comment.