Uber driver raped passenger after telling her he could ‘make her ride cheaper’
A Melbourne Uber driver asked a female passenger a question before he raped her in the car despite her repeatedly saying no.
An Uber driver told a teenage girl he could “make her ride cheaper” before he raped her in the back of a car in Melbourne.
Hafiz Babar pleaded guilty to one count of rape in the County Court of Victoria earlier this month after initially denying the allegations.
The 32-year-old was jailed for five years on Friday but will be eligible for parole after serving three years behind bars.
“To say the offending had a profound effect on the young victim is an understatement,” County Court Judge Chris Yan said.
He picked up the 18-year-old university student from a party in Melbourne’s southeast in 2018 and she sat in the back of the car.
The driver headed off in the direction his victim requested but soon pulled over.
“Do you want the ride for cheaper?” he asked the young woman.
“If you do something for me, I can make the ride cheaper”.
She insisted she wasn’t interested and didn’t want to do anything like that, the court was told.
Babar got out of the car and then sat in the back seat next to the victim, telling her he again he could make the ride cheaper.
He started touching her thigh as the woman repeatedly told him “no” and tried to squirm away from him before he raped her.
The young woman managed to open the car door and fled, but Babar tried to grab her leg.
“No, no stay,” he said.
She ran to a nearby home and in tears told the woman who answered the door a “creepy guy” touched her in the car.
“He was touching me,” the woman told the homeowners who drove her to a nearby police station.
The judge said Babar “preyed upon” a young girl who had been affected by alcohol.
However the judge considered Babar’s depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and his social isolation from family in Pakistan when handing down his sentence.
Babar’s student visa was cancelled and he will be eligible for parole in three years.