South Asian-origin cabbie charged with unlawful imprisonment of woman

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Police tracked down and charged a South Asian-origin cabbie in New York City, and charged him May 11, with unlawful imprisonment of a woman from the his own community in April.

The 27-year old woman told police she was on her way home to Bronx on April 6, but was instead forcibly driven to Connecticut by the cab driver, identified by police as Mohammad Khalek, 47, New York Daily News reported May 12.

The cabbie reportedly drove the woman to Connecticut saying he would not let her go unless they had sex. The Daily News identified Khalek as a “member of her tight-knit Bengali community.”

The woman  thought she was heading to Bronx April 6, but when she could not recognize the road signs, the cabbie told her he was taking a short cut and since she was new to the neighborhood she could not recognize the place.

After he drove her to Norwalk, Connecticut, the cabbie demanded sex but as he opened her door, the woman said she escaped and sought help from a passing motorist and called 911, the news report said.

When she told her husband about her experience, he remembered an earlier story about a cabbie that a city judge reprimanded last year named Khalek, who had shown a porn video to another woman. The husband alerted the police to the other complaints against Khalek and the police have now charged him.

According to the news report, last year, the judge detailed other complaints against Khalek, including a June judgement by an administrative judge in New York City fining Khalek $1,000 and recommending to the Taxi and Limousine Commission that his license be revoked.