MUMBAI: A woman got the shock of her life after she noticed her auto driver unzipping and masturbating while driving the vehicle after putting her in awkward situation at Versova on Monday evening; the woman alerted her husband and got the driver arrested.

The Versova police had produced the accused driver, Mahesh Gauda,28, before a court on Tuesday. The court released Gauda on cash bail.

The 30-year-old victim works in airline industry and she hired an auto for home at Andheri (West) around 6.30 pm. Gauda was looking at the victim from rear mirror after start of the journey but she avoided to pay any attention towards him.

After the auto crossed Good Shepherd Church on Yari Road, the driver opened his zip and put his one hand inside of his pant while driving the auto with other hand. In between, he was looking the victim from the mirror. When the victim noticed that Gauda was driving the auto with one hand and he was masturbating, she creamed at him for his act.

She also alerted her husband about it after requesting him to come at their building gate. By the time, the auto reached the victim’s building, Gauda stopped the vehicle and apologies the woman for his behavior. He requested her to let him go. But the woman decided to teach him a lesson, she along with her husband took Gauda to the Versova police station.

The police booked Gauda under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).

The victim’s friends questioned the women safety issue after the incident and told that everyone focusing on private taxi driver’s character verification after the Delhi rape incident, but what about the auto drivers?.

Two months ago, the city police claimed that they would verify the antecedents of all fleet taxi and tourist taxi drivers in the city after a 25-year-old executive was raped in a Uber Cab in Delhi.

The Versova incident showed that, the auto and taxi drivers with criminal mindset in the city are also threat to women passenger traveling alone even in day time at isolated stretch.

