Cab driver held for sexually harassing pilot at Thiruvananthapuram airport

A taxi driver was arrested for passing lewd comments at a woman pilot at Thiruvananthapuram airport on Friday. 30-year-old Unnikrishnan, a resident of Thiruvananthapuram, was taken into custody on Saturday based on the complaint filed by the Delhi-based pilot.

According to the pilot, the incident happened while she was waiting for transport after finishing her work on Friday night. “An illiterate hooligan stops his car a few feet away from me and decides to catcall and harrass me. ‘Hey baby, come with me’ and speeds away in his car (sic),” the pilot said in a post on social media on Friday.

In her post, she had also mentioned the model of car was ‘gray colour esteem with a KL reg. (1/2)’

Soon after the incident, the pilot contacted her colleagues and they alerted the Airport Authority of India, reports The New Indian Express. Though the security personnel at the airport rushed to the area, the taxi driver managed to get away. Airport Authority of India alerted the Valiyathura police and lodged a complaint through email. The pilot too arrived at the police station on Saturday to physically lodge a complaint.  

The police stated that on Friday at around 11 pm, the pilot was waiting for her vehicle at the airport when a man started abusing her verbally. "She had identified him as a taxi driver. We registered a complaint and her statement was recorded," said the police.

Meanwhile, the pilot also reached out to the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi and several other politicians to seek their help.

“Honb'l MP @ShashiTharoor ji On international Women's Day a woman gets harrassed outside Trivandrum International Airport, and the authorities aren't able to help because of the language barrier, including the Women's Helpline. Could you help? (sic)” one of her social media posts stated.

The pilot had also said that there was a CCTV camera where she was standing and the footage would back her story.

After receiving the complaint, the police checked the CCTV footage at the airport and identified the taxi driver as 30-year-old Unnikrishnan. Unnikrishnan has been arrested under with Section 354 (A) (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code. His car has also been taken into custody.

(With inputs from IANS)