Bengaluru: Pervert auto driver peeps at women

Bengaluru: Next time you board an autorickshaw, beware. The auto driver could be a peeping Tom. Akanksha Gautam, a resident of Bengaluru, had a torrid experience when she recently got into an autorickshaw. She has alleged that the pervert driver was videographing her using his mobile phone, which was taped to the rooftop of his vehicle.

She has also alleged that when she called for help, a gang of 7-8 men near a bar allegedly ganged up around her and misbehaved with her instead of helping her.
Akanksha took to the social media on Tuesday evening and narrated the sequence of her ordeal on the night of July 24. She has urged the city police to take action against the pervert auto driver and even posted a photograph of the driver’s display card inside the auto.

The complaint read, “I had to meet my friends around 8.30 in the evening and was planning to travel from Richmond Town to Lavelle Road. I tried booking a cab but they were all cancelling as it was raining heavily. I decided to take an autorickshaw.

After a long wait, an autorickshaw stopped and the driver agreed to drop me to my destination. However, I wasn’t comfortable as like any other autorickshaw driver he too was staring at me from the rearview mirror, kept looking back and smiling. He kept asking me the way, though he knew where exactly I had to go.”

It further read, “Anyway, thanks to Bangalore roads, he applied brakes suddenly to avoid a pothole and I heard something falling around my legs from the top to the floor of the auto. When I checked, it was a taped mobile phone with the camera on video mode and flash. Shocked at first, the moment I picked up the phone, I realised what was happening. The driver realised too that he was in trouble. He started begging me to give his phone back. I told him to drop me to my destination first, and then talk. Then he again stopped the auto and started apologising by touching my feet. When we reached the destination, I started looking for the police, because on that particular road cops are always there. But unfortunately that night, I couldn’t find any.”

When Akanksha decided to call for a back-up and dialed her friend’s number, the auto driver allegedly tried to snatch the phone from her hand and she slapped him.

“In the melee, some buttons on the phone got pressed and the video disappeared without saving. I remember it was exactly a 7.22 mins video. Few guys around us saw what was happening, but they just kept staring at me, though I was frantically looking for someone to help me. When they gathered around me, I thought they would help, but I was wrong. They started yelling at me to not make a scene and let the autorickshaw driver go. I told those 7-8 valet guys of a bar to not get involved if they can't help me. They still ganged up against me. When my friend came down to sort the situation, they picked up a quarrel with him as well.”

When Akanksha managed to check the gallery, she found disturbing things. “Though the video got deleted accidentally, I did see pictures of girls sitting in his auto,” read the complaint. Akanksha Gautam is yet to make a formal complaint.