Taxi travails: From glances to gestures, women face it all

Vilasini Ramani spent sleepless nights for a week before police arrested the cab driver who had abused her and threatened to slit her throat. "I felt very insecure. The cab driver had abused and dumped me in the middle of a road (near Madhya Kailash)," recollects Vilasini, a city-based publisher.
Two months after the incident, a doctor employed at a private hospital was abused by a cab driver and his friends while she was travelling in a cab from Neelankarai to Anna Nagar late on Sunday.Police promptly arrested the driver, Venkatesan, and his friends. Ola too fired him. But the incident has brought to the fore, yet again, the danger women are exposed to when they travel alone at night in cabs -- a mode of transport perceived to be the safest for the city's women.
Recollecting a harrowing experience inside a cab, a woman commuter recalled, "I was travelling from Mogappair to T Nagar in a cab. I was talking to my friend over the phone. After I disconnected my call, the driver picked up a conversation taking a lead from the discussion I had with my friend. I was shocked and told him to stop talking to me."
Another woman, a school teacher at R A Puram, said, "The cab driver complimented my voice and started flirting with me. I cut short the converstaion and reported abuse on the app. However, I didn't follow up on the action taken against the driver."
But those facing abuse are reluctant to stereotype cab drivers.
"All the cab drivers I have met have been very polite. I even invited some of them, who were waiting for me at my doorsteps, and offered tea to them sometimes. Some of them pick up very interesting conversations, like the one with whom I had a long discussion about Kabali. But I was very upset that day because the cabbie threatened me," said Ramani.
As far as security measures, most cab aggregators also have SOS button that becomes active once the trip has begun. When the customer presses the emergency number, messages are sent to three preset contact numbers and a call is made to the nearest police station.
A senior police officer said not many come forward to register complaints against cab drivers. "If we receive any complaint, we will take action. But people don't approach us. There is a separate option in the mobile apps to 'report abuse' if the cab driver misbehaves, most do that," he said.
For their part, cab aggregators have an SOS option in the app that becomes active once the travel starts. In case of an emergency, the passenger can avail the option and messages are sent to three preset numbers. A call is made to the nearest police station. Also, cab operators train drivers such that they make passengers comfortable.
Sources in cab aggregating companies say they take the layer of protection to ensure their customers are safe.
"We have training to ensure drivers know how to interact with customers. If found to be rude or if we receive complaints against a driver, we send him for re-training," said a source in Ola.
(With inputs from Karthikeyan Hemalatha)