In yet another shocking incident of sexual assault, a 25-year-old BPO executive was allegedly raped by an OLA cab driver’s friend in Jarcha area of Greater Noida on Thursday Night. The police arrested the cab driver and his friend in the early hours of Friday morning.
However, the cab was not booked through the Ola app as the cab driver and the victim were known to each other. According to the police, the accused have been identified as Ashok, the cab driver and Praveen, the alleged rapist.
“The complainant has stated that she called the cab driver at around 4:30 pm on Thursday evening Sector 126, Noida and told him that she needed to travel to Surajpur (Greater Noida). However, when she boarded the cab another passenger (Praveen) was already sitting there,” said Nishank Sharma, Circle Officer (Dadri area).
Police said that the three first went to sector 18, Noida where the victim met a friend. Later on, they left for Surajpur. On the way, the three took soft drinks which the girl alleged were spiked with sedatives. The driver told the victim that he had to drop Praveen nearby at Jarcha and requested her permission regarding it. Unaware of their devious plans, she gave the nod.
“Ashok took the car to a secluded spot in Daya Nagar forest area in Jharcha at around 8:30 pm and asked her and Praveen to get down. He requested her to wait there as he needed to finish some work and would return soon. The woman called Ashok when he didn’t return in half an hour, but his phone was switched off. Suddenly, Praveen started to force himself on her. He forcefully dragged the victim into the bushes and allegedly raped her,” said Sharma.
The woman somehow managed to escape from the clutches of the accused at around 12 am and made a call to the police control room. However, when the police reached the spot the accused had already fled from there. The victim was taken to the district hospital where her medical examination was conducted. A search operation was launched and around four-five people were detained during the initial investigation.
“The ola driver and his friend were traced and nabbed. Police have booked them under sections 120B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy), 376 (Punishment of Rape) and 328 (Causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal code,” added Sharma.
An OLA spokesperson stated stating that the company regrets the unfortunate incident. However, he clarified that the ride was not booked on their platform.
