Rapido bike captain arrested in Bengaluru after fight with woman rider | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: A Rapido bike-taxi captain was arrested here Monday on charges of slapping a woman rider, who had objected to his alleged rash riding. The accused, though, alleged it was the woman who had attacked him first.A video clip, recorded by a passerby on his mobile, shows the two arguing and then the captain slapping the woman, who loses her balance and is knocked down on the road. Later, though, police collected CCTV footage from a nearby building, which showed the woman attacking the bike captain first.The accused bike captain has been identified as S Suman, 28, a resident of Srinivasnagar. He was arrested by Jayanagar police based on the complaint filed by Priya (name changed), the pillion rider. Suman has been charged under multiple sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Speaking to TOI, Priya explained the incident had taken place on the morning of June 13. While on her way from BTM Layout II Stage to her workplace in Jayanagar III Block, Priya had booked a Rapido bike, and Suman was assigned the ride. However, according to Priya, the ride was rough as Suman was rash, violating traffic rules, jumping signals at will, and even taking a detour.“Several times I requested him to slow down and follow the route shown in the map, but he wouldn’t budge. Upon reaching Jayanagar III Block, I decided to end the ride, with my office still around 200 metres away,” she said.Priya added that as she got off the bike, Suman was got into an argument with her for ending the ride prematurely. “When I countered him, he suddenly slapped me hard,” Priya said. “In a bid to protect myself, I too attacked him.”Suman later told the police it was Priya who hit him first, and that made him lose his cool.“Since there was a huge traffic congestion on the main roads, I took the inner lanes, but the woman kept yelling and abusing me for taking a different route. On reaching Jayanagar III Block, when she abused me yet again, I lost my cool. She spoke ill about my parents. When I warned her, she slapped me,” Suman said, adding that it was then that he hit back.
