Viral video: Ola auto driver slaps girl student for cancelling ride in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Booking an autorickshaw for a short trip turned out to be a traumatic experience for two college students in Bengaluru Thursday evening. The driver of the vehicle verbally abused and slapped the student on a busy road after she cancelled his ride on the mobile app.

The accused, Muthuraj, 46, of Chikkallasandra, was arrested by Magadi Road police Thursday evening.A video of the incident has gone viral, evoking terse reactions from netizens. Even a section of auto drivers slammed him for hurling expletives and threatening the 23-year-old post-graduate student of a private college.
“I felt so helpless and scared, even now I dread booking an autorickshaw on the app,” she told TOI.
The drama unfolded around 4pm Tuesday when the student, along with her collegemate, decided to take an autorickshaw to visit her brother at Kudlu Gate. As finding autorickshaws or cabs on apps is a challenge in Bengaluru these days, the two friends decided to try their luck by booking an Ola auto on their respective mobile phones.
“Considering the city’s traffic and past experience where auto drivers refuse to come, we thought of booking in our apps and boarding the vehicle whose driver responds first,” she said.

“Both of us booked autos — one was about 50 metres away, and the other around 100 metres. I asked my friend to cancel hers since it was farther, and we didn’t want to keep the driver waiting. That’s when the trouble began. Our auto arrived, and we got in. Suddenly, the other auto driver (Muthuraj) showed up and began shouting at us for cancelling the ride. He started abusing us in Kannada and English. I began recording him on my mobile phone, but before I could understand what was happening, he slapped me. I was completely shocked. I wanted to hit him back, but I was too scared. From his behaviour and the way he was shouting, I was afraid he would retaliate if I did,” she said.
Even the driver of the autorickshaw they had boarded did not counter Muthuraj; he only requested the angry fellow driver to let go of the matter. The duo are yet to come out of the trauma. “I dropped my friend at her college and went to my brother’s place. We contacted Ola app’s customer service and even sent a mail to them, but there was no response. I’m still at my brother’s place because I am too scared to go to my house,” she added.
Ola has not commented about the incident.
DRAMA ON ROAD