SINGAPORE – A woman who usually orders meals from Foodpanda around three to four times a week has complained about a deliveryman sexually assaulting her upon delivery.
Originally reported by The New Paper (TNP), the 24-year old public relations officer – who only wants to be known as Miss Qiao – complained about the events that took place last Thursday (August 6).
According to Miss Qiao’s boyfriend, Kenneth Ong, the Foodpanda deliveryman arrived at the building of her shared rental flat at Textile Centre in Jalan Sultan around 10.15 pm. As she exited her bedroom to go and open the front door of her apartment, she was surprised to find the delivery man was already standing outside her bedroom door.
After the deliveryman asked for payment for her order, he then allegedly asked Miss Qiao whether she was wearing a bra beneath her singlet. After she ignored his question and then told him to wait while she got the payment for the food, he supposedly followed her into her bedroom.
This is when she screamed at him to stay away as she handed over the payment. But he went on to ask her how much she would charge to “go for a short time.”
Then according to Mr Ong, “She could not take it so she screamed at him again and told him to leave.”
To make matters worse, the delivery guy, who was said to be in his 20s, reportedly laughed after she screamed for him to leave the premises.
When Miss Qiao explained what happened to the Lianhe Wanbao newspaper she said that her front door was normally locked but probably one of her roommates forgot to lock it. “I won’t dare to use food delivery services anymore,” she added and has since moved out of the flat.
A spokesperson for Foodpanda shared with TNP that driver has already been blacklisted from working with them and he will never be allowed to work with them in the future.
She shared, “We place the safety of our customers as a priority and take a zero-tolerance stance on harassment in any form. We recommend that Mr Ong lodge a police report and will be offering our utmost support in any investigation.”
Although Mr Ong and Miss Qiao have not yet decided whether they will file a case against the deliveryman, Mr Ong said, “I’m of the view that we should, but my girlfriend is quite affected and doesn’t want to blow up the matter.”
Regardless, Mr Ong is not completely satisfied with the way Foodpanda initially handled their concern, stating that they had given him ‘generic responses.’
His hope is that not only Foodpanda, but all delivery firms, do more rigorous background checks on their riders in order to raise awareness about the possibility of sexual harassment.
He explains, “They should at least send a message to all their riders to educate them and reinforce how they should behave.” -/TISG