A 23-year-old cab driver was arrested for raping a 37-year-old cabin crew member of a private airline after diverting her office cab to a secluded spot while she was on her way to Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) to report for duty, police said.
According to police, the incident took place on July 20 at around 2.40 pm, when the woman boarded an airline-arranged cab from Shamshabad to the airport. Instead of taking the designated route, the driver drove towards a secluded area near an under-construction site close to the airport.
Police said the accused told the woman he was stepping out to answer nature's call before returning to the vehicle and raping her.
"After getting out of the vehicle, he returned within two to three minutes, entered through the rear door and raped the woman inside the car," Shamshabad ACP V Sreekanth Goud said in a statement.
The officer said the survivor resisted the assault and later managed to push the accused away, open the car door and run out of the vehicle while shouting for help from a nearby worker.
"Seeing this, the cab driver fled the spot in the vehicle," the ACP said. The survivor then approached the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Police Outpost soon after the incident and lodged a complaint.
Based on her statement, police registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges of rape and assault, and launched an investigation.
The accused, identified as Errapogu Prashanth Kumar, a resident of Telangana's Rangareddy district, was traced and arrested the next day, on July 21.
Police said the accused confessed to the crime during interrogation. After undergoing a medical examination, he was produced before a local court, which remanded him to judicial custody.
Investigators said the cab service was being operated by a local transport agency engaged by the airline for ferrying employees to and from the airport.
Following the incident, police said they have asked the airline to review the safety protocols governing employee transportation, particularly for women staff travelling to and from the airport.
The airline, police said, is cooperating with the investigation and extending all necessary support to the affected employee. Further investigation into the case is underway.
