Ride-hailing service driver 'sexually assaults' woman in Lahore

• Victim says driver asked for water and followed them into house.
  
• Accuses online taxi captain of violating her in front of her friend.
• Police trying to track suspect through car's registration number. 

Raising serious concerns about the safety of women using both online and offline transport options, a ride-hailing service taxi driver allegedly sexually assaulted a female passenger in Lahore in the presence of her female friend before fleeing the scene, Geo News reported on Saturday.

The police, after registering a case on the victim's complaint, have sprung into action to apprehend the suspect using a partial vehicle registration number identified by her.

According to the first information report (FIR), the driver dropped off the woman and her friend at their home after completing the ride; however, he did not drive away immediately. 

Instead, he tailed them inside the house to perpetrate the alleged crime, as per the accusation.

For the victim, what started as an ordinary ride home with a friend turned into a harrowing ordeal she could never have imagined.

As per the details from the complaint lodged with the police, the victim had booked an online taxi after an evening out with her friend, hoping for a safe and convenient journey home — an everyday practice for average commuters in Pakistan.

As the otherwise ordinary ride came to an end, the driver dropped them off at the victim’s house. Just as they were about to step inside, the driver asked for a glass of water.

Thinking nothing of this harmless request, the woman went inside to fetch a glass of water leaving the door open behind her, which proved to be a fatal error, as per the victim’s complaint in the FIR.

The driver allegedly forced his way into the house behind them and violated the victim, while her horrified friend watched the assault helplessly.

The victim’s complaint also states that her parents, who were nearby, soon arrived at the scene and beat up the alleged rapist, trying their best not to draw the whole neighbourhood’s attention owing to the sensitivity of the matter.

However, they eventually let him go to spare the victim further trauma and prevent the dishonour such acts bring to the family in a conservative society like Pakistan, where women rape victims are usually stigmatised by the society.

Seizing the opportunity, the perpetrator fled immediately, leaving the women and the victim’s family in shock and disbelief.

This incident highlights the vulnerability that many women are exposed to daily, even in so-called safe and familiar environments.

It also reminds us that there is a desperate need for the right safety measures, tighter regulations, and thorough background checks for service providers in the online ride-hailing economy.

In September 2020, two robbers allegedly gang-raped a woman in front of her children when her car broke down on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway on Wednesday night in an area falling within Gujjarpura police station's jurisdiction.

The woman, along with her two children, was driving to Gujranwala when she was forced to stop at around 1:30am at the Gujjarpura section of the motorway after reportedly running out of fuel.

She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 from which she reportedly received no response.

In the meantime, two robbers reportedly approached the car, broke the window, and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they allegedly raped her in front of the children.

Data released on violence against women in 2023 by Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO) shows the number of rape cases in Punjab remains a huge cause for concern.

A total of 6,624 rape cases were reported across the province in 2023, which meant that approximately after every 45 minutes, a woman was raped. Faisalabad emerged as a hotspot district with 728 cases, followed closely by Lahore (721) and Sargodha (398).