S'pore woman alleges she was molested by GrabHitch driver, gets shamed on Facebook

She says she has filed a police report.

Mandy How | March 21, 2018, 12:29 PM

A female passenger who alleges that she was molested by her GrabHitch driver is being shamed online for sitting in the front seat.

The passenger related her experience in a public Facebook post on the morning of Mar. 19, but took it down almost two days later.

In her account, she claims the driver had touched her thighs while she was sleeping (thereby waking her up) and allegedly continued to do so even when she pushed his hand away.

He allegedly even said that she was "too hard to resist".

You can read her account here:

She said she has also made a police report on the incident.

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A photo of the driver accompanied the post, which we've censored as it is no long publicly available:

Victim-blaming comments

Unfortunately, some Facebook users blamed the passenger for what happened to her, and took it upon themselves to make their opinion expressly clear on her post.

Some faulted her for sitting in the front seat, even though proper GrabHitch etiquette dictates that one should, because GrabHitch drivers are significantly different from regular GrabCar drivers:

At least one other said that she shouldn't have taken GrabHitch if she didn't want to face sexual harassment:

And another commented that she was being "over-sensitive":

Some defended her

Thankfully, some users stepped in to speak up for the girl:

Driver: "I think it's a misunderstanding here."

However, a person commenting on the girl's post appended WhatsApp screenshots that appear to show the alleged driver involved responding to the girl's claims.

A phone number labelled with a name that matches the name of the driver in the case claimed in text messages that it was a "misunderstanding", and he was "just trying to take something from glove compartment":

Grab has suspended the driver

Upon enquiry, a spokesperson from Grab told Mothership that they have suspended the driver in question, and have reached out to the affected passenger to provide support.

The ride-hailing service indicates that they stand ready to assist with police investigations.

This is their statement in full:

"This breaches the trust of our community and we do not tolerate such behaviour. The safety of our customers -- drivers and passengers -- is our absolute priority. We have suspended the driver in question, have reached out to the affected passenger to provide support, and stand ready to assist the police with investigations."

This is not the first time a GrabHitch driver has been accused of molestation either:

Best be careful, girls and boys.

Top image from alleged victim's Facebook post