FIR against Lucknow woman for trashing cabbie after video sparks outrage trends as #arrestlucknow girl

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), August 2 : Uttar Pradesh police has filed an FIR against a woman in Lucknow who was seen repeatedly hitting and punching a cab driver at a traffic crossing in the city. The dramatic spectacle was caught on video by which soon began trending on social media with the hashtag "Arrest Lucknow girl".
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Central (Lucknow), Chiranjeev Nath Sinha said the case has been filed after the man who was slapped lodged a complaint.
"In the case of the viral video of a woman slapping a man, we received a complaint from the man today. Based on the complainant, An FIR was filed in Krishna Nagar police station under relevant sections," DCP Sinha said.
In the video, a bespectacled woman dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans and sports shoes, the woman is seen crossing a street at a zebra crossing at Awadh Crossing here even as vehicles stream by and stopping in front of a cab. She proceeds to open the cab driver's door and drags him out and starts slapping and hitting him pulling him by the collar. The driver can be seen requesting bystanders to call policewomen to the scene. "Aaplog mahila police bulaye, " he is heard saying in the video.
The woman continues assaulting him repeatedly and at one point is seen flinging the phone of the cabbie, which had fallen on the ground. A bystander who attempts to intervene also gets a slap from the woman.
In between the video also shows a traffic policeman intervening and separating the woman from the cabbie and escorting them to the side of the road but after a short while the woman again corners the man and starts hitting him.
Meanwhile, the cab driver identified as Sadat Ali Siddiqui said that after the incident police took both him and the woman to the police station but the police filed a case against him based on her complaint.
"Police did not even take my complaint and kept me inside lockup for 24 hours," he added. The cab driver's lawyer said that when his client's brother came to know about the incident, he along with some friends arrived at the police station and managed to get his brother released on a personal bond.
"The police made them sit in the police station forcibly and also challaned the driver," the lawyer said.
"A complaint was lodged against the woman and against the policemen who wrote the wrong case. Taking action on the complaint a case was registered against the woman in Krishna Nagar police station," the lawyer said adding that they have also asked the police to take action taken against cops who did nothing at the time of the incident and registered a case against the cab driver.
On Twitter, the video generated outrage with users expressing their ire.
One Twitter user posted: "First of all how can she cross the road when vehicles are moving? Isn't that her fault and how can the police allow this ? And pls support students too #ArrestLucknowGirl"
Another microblogger said: "See was trying to suiC/ide...she came in front of moving traffic.. if cab driver wouldn't control he was gone for killing chanrges.. girl should be given tough lesson."
A few people also asked that the girl be shown no leniency because of her gender. One person tweeted: "Hope there is no leniency shown because of gender. This was an unwarranted, unprovoked act. Kudos to the guy for showing restraint. That must have been very hard."
Meanwhile, DCP Central (Lucknow) said that police will carry out an unbiased investigation in the matter.
The matter was first reported in Krishna Nagar Police station in Lucknow on July 30. According to the initial police report, the 28-year-old was walking near Awadh Crossing when she was hit by a car.
"There were three passengers in the car. The woman made the driver get out of the car after it hit her and started beating him. Both parties were then brought to Krishna Nagar Police station, and three men were challaned under section 151/107/116 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The woman was safely escorted to her destination," the police statement said.