ShefeeqKochi: T.A. Shefeeq, the online cab driver who was assaulted by three women passengers last week, has decided to move the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him. Shefeeq, a Kumbalam native, alleged that the police are trying to save the unruly passengers despite CCTV footage and eyewitnesses of the incident being in favor of him.
The police on Monday slapped an FIR charging non-bailable offenses on the online cabby for 'insulting womanhood'. The cops also rejected the demands to slap a non-bailable case against the women despite video footage which showed the Uber driver being brutally attacked by them.
The incident happened last week when the three women, who availed an Uber taxi, allegedly attacked Shefeeq after they insisted the passenger who boarded before them be made to alight. They manhandled the driver and tried to hit him with stones. Seeing the fight, passers-by intervened and handed over the three accused - Angel Mary (36) of Alakode in Kannur district, Clara Shibin (28) of Alakode, and Sheeja Afsal (30) of Pathanamthitta - to Maradu police.
Manorama News had on Saturday aired visuals of the assault. In the video, the women are seen assaulting the driver despite some onlookers trying to stop them. An eye witness had also revealed that the women resorted to violence without any provocation.
The cops released the women on station bail after filing a case with minor charges. But the police booked Shefeeq with charges under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).
The women lodged a complaint alleging Shefeeq had abused them. According to the officers, the FIR was lodged based on this complaint and an investigation was under way.
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