Cab services have become a common occurrence in the day-to-day lives for almost all of us, who avail these services to reach from point A to point B, trusting a complete stranger with our safety.
But have we thought that the driver has to trust us too? That we will not be murderers or rapists who can make any ride their last? An Uber driver in Kochi was not prepared for what befell him during his shift when he went to pick up his customers for a share ride.
The incident occurred near Vytilla, Kochi, when three women identified as Clara Shibin (28),  Sheeja Afsal (30) and Angel Baby (36) booked an Uber-pool ride and thrashed the driver when he refused to evict a passenger.
When the cab arrived at their pick up point, the women saw that another man was seated in the car and ordered the driver to oust the passenger from the car saying that they wanted the cab all to themselves, although the man had shifted to the front seat.
As reported by Deccan Chronicle, the cab driver, Shafeeq, refused to evict the passenger and told the women to cancel the ride if they have opted for the sharing option by mistake. The women then, brutally assaulted the driver, injured him on the head and tore his shirt.
It did not take long for passers-by to intervene, who rescued the driver and turned the women to the nearby traffic police kiosk after which they were arrested by the police. The injured driver was rushed to a nearby private hospital after which he was shifted to a Government General hospital.
The women were booked under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 294 (B) (use of obscene words) of the IPC among others, and were later released on station bail.
Just because somebody is paying for a service, does not entitle them to abuse the provider of the service. Dignity of labour has to be associated with professions and the professionals should be treated with due respect.