Uber Driver Allegedly Rapes Unconscious Woman After She Falls Asleep In Car

A woman in Manhattan on Thursday accused an Uber cab driver of allegedly taking her to his apartment and raping her after she passed out in his car, according to police sources, New York Daily News reported.

The 31-year-old victim, whose name has not been released, told the police she had called for an Uber at E. 52nd St. and 2nd Ave. about 2 a.m. EDT in East Village, Manhattan, following which she fell asleep in the car.

The woman alleged then the driver took her to his apartment and raped her while she was unconscious. She said she woke up and was surprised to discover herself in an unknown apartment and confronted the driver.

"I used protection — please don't call the police," he reportedly said, according to police sources, New York's Pix 11, Tribune Media affiliate reported.

The woman filed a police complaint and told police she had not given consent for the alleged act by the driver. She said she escaped from his apartment and reported the incident to the police.

The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital for proper examination and the police are still trying to locate the driver, according to NY Daily News.

This is not the first time a cab sharing service has faced such allegations.

In July this year, an Uber driver was jailed for 12 years after he was accused of waiting outside crowded east London bars looking for intoxicated women in order to rape or sexually assault them.

Jahir Hussain, a cab driver, was said to have assaulted one woman in October 2016 and two others on the same night in December last year, when they passed out in his car.

Snaresbrook Crown Court in London heard his case and the Judge Nicholas Huskinson told Hussain at that time that he seriously considered a life sentence for the crimes.

"You possess a high risk of harm to adult women, particularly those who are intoxicated. You, Mr. Hussain, appear to target them while they are alone and vulnerable," Huskinson had said.

"On 2 December you committed two crimes hours apart despite the first victim telling you they would call the police. That did not deter you," he added, according to Metro.co.uk.

Similarly, in June this year, Alaric Spence, 46, an Uber driver was arrested on the suspicion of kidnapping and sexually assaulting an intoxicated passenger.

Los Angeles Police Department Robbery Homicide Capt. William Hayes had said at that time, the victim fell unconscious in the car and the driver allegedly took her to a motel and sexually assaulted her.

Hayes had also said that the victim found herself in a strange motel and remembered falling asleep in the car.

"There is a video showing him carrying her into the hotel," Hayes had said then and the police also had suspected that there were more victims, Los Angeles Times reported.

In January, an Uber driver in Sydney was accused of raping a woman who fell asleep in his car and then said he stopped at a service station to buy condoms before having what he claimed was "consent sex."

Muhammad Naveed, 41, pleaded not guilty to raping his victim on a Saturday night in October 2015, after he picked her up from Kings Cross, the Daily Telegraph in Australia had reported.