Mumbai taxi driver held for molesting Russian tourist

The Juhu police on Wednesday arrested a taxi driver for allegedly molesting a 23-year-old Russian national.

The Juhu police on Wednesday arrested a taxi driver for allegedly molesting a 23-year-old Russian national. The victim, a teacher, had come to India three months back on a tourist visa and arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The taxi driver, Kurla-resident Sayyed Qayyum Sayyed Hafeez (42), was booked for outraging a woman’s modesty. He will be produced in court on Thursday.

According to the police, the victim alighted from a bus at Vile Parle (east) and hired a taxi to go to Vile Parle (west), where she was to meet her family friend Alexandra D’Souza, also a Russian national, and the latter’s husband Warren. “She took a cab, sat in the front seat and asked the driver to drop her at the family friend’s place. Hafeez, however, drove for three hours around the domestic and international airport terminals,” said senior inspector Deepak Katkade of Juhu police station.

Around 1.30 pm, Hafeez asked the woman to shift to the rear seat. “Five minutes later, Hafeez himself went to the rear seat and forcefully kissed her. “Hafeez was booked under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code for outraging the modesty of a woman,” said Katkade.