Cabby claims women sometimes take his hand and put it on their chest, and then ‘call him a pervert and request for free ride’

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user asked for people’s thoughts after discovering that male taxi drivers get “harassed” at times by their female passengers. However, based on his post, it sounds more like extortion than harassment.

“When my dad and the taxi driver were talking the driver mentioned how Chinese females would actually sit next to him at the front and purposely put his hand on their chest and call him a pervert then proceed to request for a free ride,” wrote u/abcdefuaottt on r/Singapoore on Monday (Feb 20).

The post author asked if this happens regularly, then why it’s not being stopped, adding, “My father also told me it’s less believable if a guy (taxi driver) goes to the police and tells the police he has been molested. It’s quite disappointing imo. What do you think?”

Some commenters on the post were doubtful of the taxi driver’s claims.

“Never heard of this before. Perhaps time to install in-vehicle camera so that got evidence to report to mata,” wrote one commenter.

Another said the cabby’s story “Reminds me of that one video with the uncle changing jobs all the time due to women ‘pestering’ him.”

However, one Reddit user wrote that ”there’s no way to confirm the veracity of the taxi driver’s account” and urged others to “give the driver the benefit of doubt.”

“As such, I would not be utterly surprised if he may encounter one or two such passengers amongst his multiple trips. But if it’s a ‘common occurrence’, then that may be less believable,” the commenter added.

Another, however, had heard the story before.

One Reddit user called this sort of situation “horrible,” adding, “for now, i guess the best thing male taxi drivers can do is to install dashcams in their cars, and then show it to the police.”

And one other commenter called it “actually pretty common.”