Bengaluru police arrest auto driver for alleged abuse, racial slur against Assam woman

Bengaluru police have arrested an auto driver in the city after an Assamese woman lodged a complaint against him for alleged abuse and racial slurs.

Feli (name changed on request), approached an auto driver on Lavelle Road on Wednesday night and alleges that the man became abusive when she declined to pay the amount he asked.

From Lavelle Road, Feli and her friends wanted to go to Koramangala where they lived, with one stopover on MG Road.

“He said he would charge us double the meter, which I refused and said we would give him an extra Rs 20 on the standard one-and-a-half times the meter rule after 10 pm. He refused and I started looking for another auto,” said Feli.

After this, she says the driver became abusive. “Barely standing 1.5 meters away from me, he abused me in Kannada, called me “Chinky” and said that I wasn't even Indian,” Feli said, adding that she understands some Kannada.

Feli says she then demanded to know why he spoke to her in such a manner. “At this point, the man, who was speaking in proper Hindi until then, demanded that I speak in Kannada,” she said. She said that there were around 40 people in the vicinity of her argument with the autodriver, and some laughed.

“The man even attempted to throw his slipper on me. Before he could get other auto drivers against us, I called the police. A constable reached the spot and took us all to the Cubbon park police station,” she said.

The police inspector filed an FIR for insulting the modesty of a woman. 

Police would produce the arrested auto driver before the court on Thursday.