Uber driver threatens Bengaluru woman of tearing clothes

Agencies

August 6, 2019

Bengaluru, Aug 6: In an incident that raises questions about the customer safety systems put in place by the ride-hailing giant Uber, a woman in Bengaluru has alleged that a driver misbehaved with her and even threatened her of sexual abuse.

Narrating her ordeal in a social media post, she said that Uber's safety system was "extremely messed up".

As a result of her verbal duel with the driver, the woman was left stranded alone in a "not so busy road" on Saturday night.

"Today, I had the most traumatizing experience of my life. I got into an Uber cab after dinner with my colleagues. The cab driver was telling his friend on phone about customers being 'very bad'," she wrote in the post.

"Suddenly, he turned to me and told me that as an educated woman I should leave work before 7 p.m. and not go out drinking with colleagues. I told him I didn't drink and asked him to mind his own business. He went on to call me "s***," she added.

The driver eventually slowed down the car, prompting the woman to press the "safety button" on the Uber app.

"Instead of calling me, they called the cab driver and, he started telling the customer care person that 'I am extremely drunk'. At this point, I had no choice but to start screaming asking the customer care to listen to me.

"The woman on the call spoke to me and I cried begging her to help me. She told me to get out of the cab and that she will book me another one immediately. Meanwhile, this cab driver started threatening me with things like 'I will tear your clothes if you don't leave the cab now' (sic)," the woman alleged.

"As I got down at 11.15 p.m. in the night at a not so busy road, I was waiting for a call from the customer care and also for my backup cab. I was terrified that the cab driver would come back to hit me," she added.

The woman alleged that the Uber did not help her get another cab.

She mentioned all that Uber did was returned her money

Uber has reportedly ordered an investigation into the incident, besides barring the driver from using its service in the interim period.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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