Team-BHP - Noida extortion racket busted - Fake rape case by women asking for a lift
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-   -   Noida extortion racket busted - Fake rape case by women asking for a lift (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/210166-noida-extortion-racket-busted-fake-rape-case-women-asking-lift-2.html)

I'm going to stick out my neck and go against the tide. I have been giving lifts (especially on my bikes) to office goers, elderly folks, kids and the average guy on the road (never have been asked by the fairer sex); and only twice on the cars (overseas and locally).

We live in a (relatively) worse-off time with everyone out to make a quick buck, but I sincerely believe in the act of helping each other. For every risk-taking incident such as these, the vote of thanks I get on dropping a person off is highly gratifying.

I do take certain caution when I give a lift on my bike
- drive more sedately; as the pillion doesn't have a helmet. Even slower when giving a lift to kids
- limit to one passenger (kids push hard for doubles/triples)
- limit to short distances and completely avoid going in a direction where I'm not heading, even if it's just around the corner
- no lifts after dark; unless there's sufficient traffic
- no money offered (a polite 'no cash' always works)

When on the car, my experience has been very limited (once to a disabled hitch-hiker in the US), so on our roads, I'd probably make it a really rare case (car broken down, etc).

My only wish to all reading this thread - if you are at peace wrt to giving lifts, put yourself into the other person's shoes and try to be helpful if you can. If your concerns/worries overwhelm you, then don't. But let these posts only serve as a piece of potential advice, you should take the final call basis your situation on the ground.

It is not really true that bikes are safer as far as giving lifts is concerned. in my college days in Bhopal (late 90s-early 00s) I used to stay in a relatively new suburb of Bhopal with poor (read non-existant) public transport. We used to see a lot of office goers/ students standing on the road to hitch a ride. We used to give lifts (and take them too), especially to the aged and young.

This was standard practice, till one of my friends gave a lift to a guy in his 60s. The guy fondled my friend (a guy) a couple of times during the ride. My friend started shouting at him and drove straight back to his colony playground where all the guys used to hang around. The guy got a good thrashing and warned off with another dose if he is seen on the road.

The only people I've given lifts in my motorcycle are to cops (forced to) and a non-teaching staff at my university in Bangalore. I've never given lifts to anyone in my car. I've heard bad experiences of people being extorted by women and children.

It's such a shame such things are happening as people who really need a ride will get ignored. I used to feel sad for the kids from not so well-off families near my house who used to walk a few km to school in the heat, dust and traffic. They'd plead for a lift, but I'd never give them as I was vary of what could happen worst case.

Back in 2002, a friend of mine bought a new Indica. We handed over the old car to the driver who accompanied us and started off to our town which was 140 km away. We didn't notice whether he was following us as we had asked him to have dinner and start.The driver apparently took a couple of passengers to make some money. After we reached home, my friend called him on his mobile but couldn't get through. As it was quite late - about midnight - he thought the the driver stopped car for a nap. Only in the morning did we come to know that the driver was robbed at gun point and that they decamped with the car too.

The car was traced after a month or so, neatly parked in a cellar right beside the DCP's office. Culprits were apprehended.

I know a guy who gave lift to a college student on his bike. Unfortunately, they met with an accident and the student didn't make it. The parents of the student filed a case against my friend and he had to go through hell.
Legal issues is one thing, but living with the sense of guilt for being responsible for the death of an unknown person is a different matter altogether. That is the day I stopped giving lifts to unknown persons.

I can recall two instances where I gave (read forced to) a lift to people in my car. I have a thumb rule of not offering free rides to any stranger keeping in mind the examples shared by others. Even if somebody begs me to stop on the road, I usually don't do it especially since I travel alone most of the time.

First instance, sometime in July 2017 I was driving from Pune to Mumbai in the evening and at the Talegaon toll plaza, three policemen in uniforms approached my car. I started fishing for my documents since I thought they were going to ask for them but instead seeing an empty car they asked me whether I can drop them to Lonavala for their duty at the Lonavala entry point from the expressway. This was a surprise to me but the best part was I wasn't asked to pay the toll. Talk of the perks of being a policeman (or being with a policeman :uncontrol).

Second instance, circa October 2015 I was driving down from Ahmedabad to Pune and on the border control checkpost, two persons with office bags asked me to stop and asked me for a lift to Thane. On seeing my discomfort, they flashed their office ID and I got to know they were Maharashtra Border Check Post Officers. I was still skeptical as I was alone and had some important luggage with me. But then they started talking to me to make me comfortable too and guess what, again no tolls till I dropped them off in Thane. Also, both of them paid me 100 bucks each for dropping them off which I refused profusely but they left the amount in the car. :D

I give lifts sometimes if the person asking seems 'OK'. I have heard such stories but never gave a thought until I read this thread. I will be more careful from now on.

Luckily nothing happened to me until now except for these two funny incidents:
The first one was when I was driving my wagon R to work in Nagarjuna circle, Hyderabad. A decent looking young woman asked for a lift near SR Nagar and I let her in without thinking. Turned out she was a prostitute and was offering her services to me. I stopped immediately and asked her to leave. Luckily she left the car without much issue, but not before she expressed her doubts on my manhood.

The second was when I gave a lift to a Panditji near Beerumguda in my Manza. The Panditji immediately noticed something wrong with the lines on my hand. He started predicting great danger to my life unless I get some pooja done. I asked him to leave, but he continued his rant. I had to literally push him out.

I also usually dont give a ride to strangers. But once in Gurgaon at a signal there was a old lady who asked for a lift till a hospital which was about 1-2 kms away. I first ignored with the usual instincts also as the signal turned green and moved. But as I crossed the signal I stopped to the side of the road.
I was on my bike so I asked her if she can manage on the bike, for which she said yes.
Reached Paras hospital where she got down. She gave me all the blessings in the world for what i did in pure Punjabi :). I felt good about what i did.
Then as she was walking away I asked her if she was here to visit anyone. She said she was here for her dialysis procedure and walked away.
I just stood there for a second wondering how wrong my judgement would have been if I had not offered to help. Maybe someone else might have helped her or she would have had to walk in the 45 degree heat.
The world today is not a safe place today and I agree that caution in such situations is our best option.Also not that I have started giving lifts to anyone who asks for after that. Infact not even once after that incident.
But maybe just it is best to use our instincts and just take the right decision.

This makes me worried - how safe are the ride apps like QuickRide and BlaBla car ?

Maybe safer than offering lifts to absolute strangers , but there are so many unverified profiles on them. You never know when you land into trouble with an unknown ride taker or giver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 4606762)
This makes me worried - how safe are the ride apps like QuickRide and BlaBla car ?

Maybe safer than offering lifts to absolute strangers , but there are so many unverified profiles on them. You never know when you land into trouble with an unknown ride taker or giver.

Quickride is offered to corporate employees only and are verified through their official email ID.
My wife is using quickride for over a year in Bangalore and has good experience with it. Now since she drives, she is offering rides as well.

Blabla car is outright illegal in India because of the operating model.
Their verification is very lax and relies only on social media.

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedmiester (Post 4606794)
Quickride is offered to corporate employees only and are verified through their official email ID.

I've stopped using QuickRide, but from what I remember, the verification isn't mandatory. Verifying does help in making the profile look more legitimate and in getting and offering more rides, but there are unverified profiles on the platform. The e-mail verification is renewed every 6 months, and I had delayed it once. My profile lost the "verified" tag but I could still use the app for taking and offering rides.

That's how it was sometime ago - I don't know if things have changed now. Overall it's probably safer than BlaBla car though.

All of us have had similar experiences as narrated.

As a school kid in Hyderabad, I regularly hitched lifts from passersby. Never had a problem all my friends did the same, they never had a problem either. Today when I think of it I feel creepy about it. Would I recommend it to my kids? No way!!!

My tale is of an unwanted co-passenger. I worked for a while in the Middle East. One evening after office my better half asked me to pick up some essentials at the nearby hypermarket. The car parks in these markets are vast & parts of it are dimly lit. I had finished a pretty hard day at work & wasn't in full command of my faculties. I came out of the market and loaded up the boot and turned to get into my car. When I look inside I found a woman & small girl sitting inside my car. They had just got in without asking. The woman spoke Hindi & was probably Pakistani certainly not Arab or Indian. In my confused state of mind I asked them to get out. She pleaded with me to drop her off at a nearby locality. I asked why couldn't she call her husband to which she gave me a totally BS story. Moreover she had no shopping bags with her. By now I was scared as hell. The car park was deserted & my mind was working overtime to get out of this situation. My left brain vs. right brain conflict made me ditch reason, get into the car & drive out with these two. By now my senses were on hyper alert for any untoward move. I reached the main highway & drove for about five minutes with zero conversation. Just then my better half called to enquire how long would I take to reach home. In my native Bengali I narrated my predicament to her & asked her to inform my friends if I didn't call back in 10 mins. I guess since spoken Bengali is so similar to Hindi, she picked up the gist of what I said. Soon after I cut the call she told me to stop as it wasn't necessary to drop her off where she earlier mentioned. The place I dropped them was far from any residential area. By then I was beyond caring, all I wanted was to get rid of them.

I thank God for pulling me out of this. It certainly wasn't normal for a woman & child in that country to hop in unasked into a strangers car. To conclude I never stop while on the road & am a lot more alert while getting into my car in public parking spaces.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 4606762)
This makes me worried - how safe are the ride apps like QuickRide and BlaBla car ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 4606806)
That's how it was sometime ago - I don't know if things have changed now. Overall it's probably safer than BlaBla car though.

I offer quick ride and its still the same. I get requests from "unverified" ride takers. A verified profile is no guarantee that someone will not hoist a false rape charge. The only safety mechanism that I can think of in my defense is- my route literally crawls with traffic and there is no way I can indulge in any hanky-panky lol: and I have a dashcam that also voice records.

Quote:

Originally Posted by laser2707 (Post 4606971)
... When I look inside I found a woman & small girl sitting inside my car. They had just got in without asking. The woman spoke Hindi & was probably Pakistani certainly not Arab or Indian. In my confused state of mind I asked them to get out. She pleaded with me to drop her off at a nearby locality. I asked why couldn't she call her husband to which she gave me a totally BS story.

How did they get into the car? Did you leave it unlocked? Why would you ever leave an empty car unlocked even for 5 minutes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V.Narayan (Post 4607082)
How did they get into the car? Did you leave it unlocked? Why would you ever leave an empty car unlocked even for 5 minutes.

Fair point Sir! How could I be so careless to leave the car unlocked?

Like I mentioned on that day I wasn't in the correct frame of mind. From the fuzzy memory I have of the incident, I unlocked the car first wanting to put the shopping bags on the front passenger seat, then realized there were too many & its better I put them in the boot. This is when these two entered the car. As a precaution to fellow BHPians random incidents like this can happen anywhere & it pays to be alert at all times. I know it sounds like something out of Crime Patrol but that's how times are now.


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