The Jakarta Metro Police arrested a driver for rideshare app Gojek accused of raping his passenger last week. To the police, the driver said he had to rape the victim to save her life.
On Dec. 16, a nurse who was heading home after completing her shift at a South Jakarta clinic hailed a GoCar ride. Her driver, identified by his initial H, took her to Bogor, where the alleged rape happened.
The nurse’s place of work tweeted about the incident the following day to push Gojek and the authorities to act. Gojek has since terminated their partnership with the driver, and the Jakarta Metro Police arrested him on Sunday, before handing the case over to the Bogor City Police as the crime took place in the latter’s jurisdiction.
H has confessed to raping the nurse to the police, but cited a supernatural reason for committing the heinous crime.
“[He said] the victim was being bothered by a genie and she had to be exorcised [by being raped]. If not, the victim would have died a slow death,” Bogor City Police’s Crime Investigation Unit Chief Commissioner Dhoni Erwanto said in a statement today.
Prior to the genie claim, H previously claimed that he had received consent from the nurse.
The police have yet to formally announce charges against H.
Following the incident, Gojek urged passengers to take advantage of their app’s panic button in times of emergency.
