South Africa: A woman aged 21 was robbed and raped by a cab driver and abandoned in Kraaifontein. The incident emerged as involving an e-hailing service.
Reportedly, the woman had sought a ride around 9:25 p.m. on Friday from Alexander Street, Bellville, Kraaifontein.
According to the police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie, the Bellville police have filed charges of robbery with a firearm and rape in connection with the case.
He explained as per preliminary information the 21-year-old victim summoned an e-hailing service to take her home from work. She was fetched by a foreign driver who instructed her to sit in the back of the hatchback vehicle.
Inspector Pojie then added further to his statement and said that while they were travelling towards her destination, a second foreign suspect allegedly appeared from the boot and threatened her with a firearm and demanded her belongings.
He robbed her laptop, cellphone, work scanner and headphones. The suspect then violated the victim, after which they dropped her on the side of the road.
As per the further relatable reports, the suspects also coerced the woman into calling her relatives to demand money from them.
Chairperson of the Bellville Community Police Forum (CPF) – Emre Uygun stated that on Sunday they have received the information that four men has detained for questioning.
“I am still waiting for formal communication and confirmation because I was told two were released. The cameras in the area were able to pick up the Hyundai vehicle and show that it was still in the northern suburbs, roaming around,” said Uygun.
According to him, any swift arrest to this heinous crime will be welcomed and with the perpetrators behind bars it limits the chances of more people, especially women, being harmed. The CPF chairperson confirmed that they will support the victim even at court and have a petition calling for no bail, we take all GBV cases seriously.
As IOL told, there was no response from the e-hailing service Indrive to inquiries made.
Considering this Uber stated that its investigation team was actively looking into whether the driver was involved in the incident had any affiliation with their platform or not.
There is a need of more stringent measures such as face recognition technology when the driver accepts a trip and vetting. The government seriously needs to look into these safety issues if the companies are not doing much to ensure safety and security of the passengers.
