Pune : ‘No’ is not just a word, it is a sentence in itself. This was the iconic dialogue from Bollywood film Pink that indirectly told the nation that no matter whether the girl is sober, drunk, dressed revealingly or not if she says ‘No’, then nobody had the right to touch her.
Unfortunately, an Ola driver, who ferried two students on Friday night molested the female passenger and is now justifying the act stating that the passengers were drunk.
Unfortunate justification
The owner of the car justified the molestation stating that the two students were drunk and kissing each other. A Sakal Times investigation found that the accused driver is identified as Shashikant Raghu. He was driving a silver Tata Indica with the registration number MH12 KN 5202. The owner of the car has been identified as Rajendra Shirke.
No arrest so far
Hadapsar police have not yet arrested the driver despite having all the information. The police were reluctant to share the name of the accused with the media despite booking him for molestation. Despite repeated queries the police said they have no clue about the identity of the accused and have sent a query to Ola for his details.
According to the complaint registered at the police station, the girl hired the Ola cab from Koregaon Park to to her hostel at Loni Kalbhor. She was accompanied by a male friend.
Later, the driver told them he will not drop them to Loni Kalbhor and started shouting at them.
He said he is watching them for a long time and their behavior has sexually aroused him. He said he also wanted to have sexual pleasure with the girl and groped the girl.
He forced the couple out of the car near a petrol pump at Hadapsar and sped away.
Owner’s claim
Rajendra Shirke, owner of the car and the employer of the accused driver Shashikant Raghu, said, “The couple were drunk and they were kissing each other. They were doing bad things inside the car. My driver asked them to get out of the car due to their activities and dropped them near a petrol pump at Hadapsar. The girl approached the police on Saturday after she became sober and filed a complaint against my driver.” Shirke said. “My driver informed me about the incident, we also went to Ola officials and informed them about the incident” he added.
Police unwilling?
When contacted, Supriya Gawde, Police Sub-Inspector, Hadapsar police station, said, “We still don’t have any information on the driver. But we have contacted Ola to get the details and will arrest the accused soon.”
However, a representative of Ola cab services informed Sakal Times that they have given all the details to the police and have off-roaded the cab till further investigation.