Australian woman claims Uber driver 'had his penis out', masturbated during trip

Narrating her horrific ordeal in a Uber cab, a 26-year-old Australian woman from Adelaide spoke about how she was terrified when she found her driver was masturbating.

The incident took place in October 2023whenshe took a 20-minute Uber cab ride to go back to her home in Campbelltown during rush hours.

Speaking to News.com.au, Tayla Pimlott saidshe had a harrowing experience and was forced to "holding back tears" as she feared being raped on what she had thought to be a "quick and quiet" journey.

The incident took place in October 2023.

Pimlottsaid, "Usually, when someone takes their pants down, they ruffle down a bit or something. I saw none of that, I just saw this subtle hand gesture. I could see clearly that he (the Uber driver) had his penis out, and he was masturbating."

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The woman said that she considered various options which included calling the police or trying to jump out of moving vehicle or screaming at the driver.

Pimlott reached out to her mother and boyfriend and informed them about the incident. She also recorded the man masturbating to submit it asa policeevidence.

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"There was a part of me that thought, 'Oh God, I could die, I could be raped, this man could touch me.My brain was frozenandmy heart was pounding...Iwas petrified," the woman told the outlet.

When she was 10 minutes away from home, she messaged her mother, "I'm about 10 minutes away from home. I need you to (wait) outside for me. I'm in an Uber and this man has his penis out."

Pimlott said that she felt it was best for her to pretend she did not see anything as she feared challenging the driver will land her in trouble.

"He fully turned around and looked at me and in the most creepiest voice I've ever heard he goes, 'Thank you so much,'" the woman said.

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Reacting to the incident, Uber in a statement said, "What's been reported has no place in the Uber community or anywhere else. As soon as we were notified of this report, we removed the driver partner's access to the app immediately and permanently.

"We continue to workto build cutting-edge technology and features to help improve safety for riders and driver-partners on the app,such as the Safety Toolkit, the emergency assistance button and the Share my Trip feature. Trips on the Uber platform are not anonymous and all trips are GPS tracked in real time."

The incident was later reported by the woman and the police arrested 29-year-old Rahman Fazeli.

(With inputs from agencies)