A Delhi woman says an Uber driver physically assaulted her during a ride after he refused to follow the route. She alleges the driver twisted her arm when she tried to open the door to stop him as her calls to 100 and Uber’s safety line did not help.
A simple trip to a doctor’s clinic turned into a shocking and painful experience for a Delhi woman after she was allegedly assaulted by her Uber driver. Bharati Chaturvedi, an environmentalist and founder of the group Chintan, says the driver twisted her arm during the ride and refused to stop the car when she asked him to. The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon when she booked an Uber from her home in Vasant Vihar to a doctor’s clinic in Sarvodaya Enclave in South Delhi. What began as a normal ride soon turned into a situation where she says she felt unsafe, helpless and ignored by both Uber and the police.
Her posts on X and LinkedIn later went viral, leading to public outrage and questions about the safety of women using app-based cabs in the national capital.
Woman shares her account on social media
In her posts on X and LinkedIn, Chaturvedi described the full sequence of events. She said she felt the need to speak out so that other women could be aware of how easily such situations can happen.
In her first post on X, she wrote, “Dear women of Delhi… Today, for the first time in my life, I was assaulted.” She explained that the driver stopped far from the clinic and became irritated when she asked him to continue towards her destination. She said he agreed at first but then started yelling and driving aggressively.
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When she asked him to follow the correct route, she said he snapped at her and refused to ‘keep going straight’. Moments later, instead of taking a U-turn that would bring them closer to the clinic, the driver suddenly turned into a narrow and unknown lane that was completely away from the correct location.
This made her feel unsafe, and she asked him to stop the vehicle. She says the driver refused and even increased his speed.
Woman opens the door to stop the driver
In her Linked post, the woman expressed her concerns how women are unsafe and cannot trust anyone Feeling trapped, Chaturvedi said she remembered the safety lessons her colleagues had taught women in slum communities, check if the car door can be opened. When she tried to open the door to force the car to stop, she says the driver reached back with one hand while still driving and grabbed her arm.
“He twisted my arm – hard”, she wrote. She screamed, and only then did the driver stop the car. She quickly got out with her small crossbody bag that had her phone, inhaler and a little cash. She said the driver then stood outside and taunted her, telling her to ‘go ahead and call the police’.
The driver did not take payment, she added.
‘Calls to 100 went unanswered’
Chaturvedi said what disturbed her even more was the lack of support when she needed immediate help. She dialled 100, the Delhi Police emergency number, but said no one answered the call. She then contacted Uber’s in-app safety line. First, an AI message told her to contact another number if she felt unsafe. She tried again, and after four minutes, someone called her back saying they were “concerned” but could not help because they were not physically present on the ground. She said the same thing happened two hours later in another follow-up call.
A social media post brings attention
When she received no help from either 100 or Uber’s safety team, Chaturvedi went online and shared her story publicly. Her posts quickly went viral on X and LinkedIn, where many women shared similar experiences and expressed frustration over the lack of reliable safety systems in cab services.
She wrote on LinkedIn, “What kind of system has lakhs of cars on the road but no real safety mechanism? No ability to pause a driver. No immediate help. No protocol to assist a passenger in distress. No coordination with police.”
She also said that she realised how much privilege had protected her in life so far, and how unsafe many women feel every day.
Chaturvedi said she was deeply disappointed that the Delhi Police did not respond when she called 100. She said the belief that the police helpline would help made her feel safe enough to dial, but the silence on the other side shook her confidence.
She also questioned Uber’s safety protocols and its focus on scale over security. “If an Uber ride can turn into a situation where a driver can twist my arm, but the company has no system to reassure a passenger, this is serious trouble,” she wrote.
She compared it to ‘boarding a flight with no security check’.
Filing of FIR and demand for accountability
Chaturvedi said she would file an FIR, but added that filing a police complaint would only help her individually. She emphasised the need to fix the larger system so that others do not face similar danger.
“We are not safe. And we cannot outsource our safety to corporations whose priority is profits and scale, not security,” she said.
She urged Uber to ‘pull up its socks’ and called for a stronger, faster and more reliable safety mechanism for riders, especially women.