A morning cab ride in Mumbai turned into a horrifying tale for a woman after the driver started performing obscene acts right in front of her on Thursday.
Debaleena, who goes by the name debaleena_buzz on Instagram, shared video footage on the social media site of the cab diver who made her and her family feel extremely uncomfortable on their way to Nariman Point from Dadar. She was with her sister and mother when they boarded the local taxi at9:30 in the morning.
It wasn't long before they got in the cab when he started performing obscene acts. "This driver as soon as I got into this local taxi, opens his zip ,was staring at me objectifying & was stimulating his genitals ( I wish I could record that) every time he took halt on signals," she wrote on Instagram.
It got uncomfortable to the point where Debaleena even asked the driver to stop the cab. In a clip of the video she posted, the cab driver can be heard refusing to let them get out. He kept pestering her even as she made it very clear she wanted to get out.
When she noticed police nearby, Debaleena decided to create some noise to draw attention to her situation. When they were finally able to leave the cab, the driver allegedly began to apologise and blamed his behaviour on being poor. However, as Debaleena puts it, "being poor doesn’t give you right to sexually harass someone"
Here is the Instagram post Dabaleena shared over the terrifying encounter:
The ordeal shattered her illusion of Mumbai, a place she said had always made her feel safe. "But if people like this can make someone like me who is local resident of this city go through this, I wonder what women coming from other city could have gone through, it’s not the city to be blamed but such people," she wrote on Instagram.
Even though she has filed an FIR, an arrest has yet to be made. Debaleena shared her story to warn women about the driver and help give others who have gone through a similar situation a voice. "I didn’t share this to feel victimised but to make all the women out there feel powerful and raise their voice when &where needed," she said on Instagram.
Since sharing her story on the social media platform, many have come out in support of her. "This is absolutely not acceptable! I’m glad you filed a report and hope that he gets what he deserves," on Instagram user wrote. Another wrote, "As a woman we all deserve to be respected and what we wear is our business. Pls stay safe."
