FIR registered against Lucknow woman seen ‘assaulting’ cab driver in viral video

A young woman can be seen assaulting a cab driver at a traffic signal in Lucknow in a viral video that has sparked outrage on Twitter.

A screenshot from the Lucknow assault video. | Photo: Twitter/@MeghUpdates
A screenshot from the Lucknow assault video. | Photo: Twitter/@MeghUpdates

Lucknow: An FIR has been registered against a young woman who was seen assaulting a cab driver at a traffic signal in Lucknow in a video that has gone viral on social media. The video sparked outrage on Twitter, with many users trending the hashtag #ArrestLucknowGirl on the microblogging site.

“We will do enquiry and then give more details,” said Chiranjeev Nath Sinha, Additional DCP, Lucknow Police.

According to the police, the incident occurred at the Awadh signal in Lucknow on 30 July when a woman who was crossing the road, suddenly started beating a cab driver, Lucknow-based Shahadat Ali.

Earlier, the Lucknow Police took preventive action against both parties, issuing a challan to Ali, two others and the woman under sections (breach of peace) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.


Also read: SC dismisses plea of rape survivor from Kerala seeking permission to marry her assaulter


What can be seen in the video

In the video, the woman can be seen slapping Ali multiple times in front of a police personnel, who tried to intervene. A man in the background could be heard saying: “Arre badtameez aurat hai yeh (She is an insolent woman).”

Asked why she was attacking Ali, the girl can be heard saying that his cab hit her. Another video of CCTV footage from the signal put up on social media shows her crossing the road in the middle of heavy traffic.

She also broke Ali’s mobile phone. Ali can be heard saying: “Please call the women’s police.”

The woman alleged that the driver hit her near the crossing, adding that he misbehaved after the incident.


Also read: This is why Modi and Shah are silent on Assam-Mizoram border row


What the driver’s brother claims

Ali’s brother, Inayat Ali, who was among those challaned, alleged harassment and added that his family will file a complaint against the woman.

“We were harassed in this issue. Police issued challan for me also although I was not present there during the incident. Police took my brother to the police station so I went there to save him. They sent us to jail on the same night. Next day our lawyer came and took our bail,” he told ThePrint.

“My brother was not at fault. His cab didn’t even touch the girl,” said Inayat. 

“In the viral video, it is clear that the girl started beating him suddenly without any reason. I don’t know whether she was drunk or not but she did it intentionally. Now, we have decided to file a complaint against this girl,” he added.

The FIR was registered Monday after the video went viral.

What the police says

Mahesh Kumar Dubey, station in-charge, Krishna Nagar police station, denied allegations of harassment on the part of the police.

“We sent our team as soon as we got the information on the evening of 30 July. We heard that these guys were teasing and passing comments that’s why she had beaten the cab driver but later on that was not completely true. We have not got any evidence of eve-teasing,” Dubey told ThePrint.

“We have challaned both the parties. If the cab driver and his family are willing to lodge an FIR in this issue they should bring a complaint letter first to the police station,” he added.

This report has been updated to add details about the FIR. 

(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)


Also read: How UP could achieve ‘population stabilisation’ by 2026-30 even without a law