While past crimes have led ride-hailing services in Indonesia to implement more and more safety features for their passengers and drivers, they are still not immune to being abused by those determined to harm others.
Police in the capital of Jakarta recently arrested a man who they say used the ride-hailing service Grab to find a victim who he then assaulted and robbed at knifepoint. Although he is not employed by Grab, he allegedly used another person’s registered driver account to commit the crime.
The head of public relations for the Jakarta Police, Argo Yuwono, explained that the 27-year-old victim, identified by her initial G, initially ordered an online taxi in the Kemang area of South Jakarta on Friday to take her to her house in the Jatisampurna area of Bekasi.
A 25-year-old man, identified by police as Nurohim Jafar, came to pick her up. Just as they were about to enter the Jatiwarna Toll Road, Nurohim took out a box cutter to threaten G.
“The perpetrator threatened the victim to demand her valuables. The victim refused and the perpetrator cut the victim’s thigh. Finally the victim handed over her money, watch and ATM card,” Argo told reporters yesterday as quoted by Detik.
In addition to injuring her thigh, Argo said the suspect also slashed the victim’s face, using his blade to cut a ‘Z’ shape into it.
G was then taken to an ATM booth and forced to empty out her account. After getting all of her valuables, Nurohim then dropped her off in front of Pondok Kopi Hospital, threatening her not to call out for help before driving away.
Soon, G was treated for her wounds and filed a report with the police. Authorities tracked down Nurohim the next morning at a rest stop, but say he resisted arrest by trying to hit them with his vehicle, forcing officers to shoot him in the leg.
Argo said that Nurohim had confessed to committing the crime, motivated by financial desperation. Investigators found that he used a rental car as well as the official Grab account of another driver (who police have not yet identified) to commit his crime.
Nurohim has been charged with theft involving the use of violence and could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
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