Satwinder Singh, an Indian-origin Uber driver in New Zealand, has been sentenced to seven years and two months’ jail for a 2023 incident when he switched the GPS of his cab and diverted to a different route while molesting a teenage passenger. The NZ Herald reported that the teenager had booked a short ride from Speight’s Ale House to an address in Hamilton East, late at night. During the drive, Singh asked the teen if she was wearing underwear when her dress shifted. The teen resisted his advances and told him, “no, can you not?” and later, “get off me” but the driver continued the unwanted contact. He disconnected the GPS, giving the impression that the trip was successfully completed but the cameras saw his car. He locked the car doors, reached over and put the woman’s seat in the recline position before kissing her and touching her breasts. He then climbed on top of her and raped her, which the victim described as “very rough and very hurtful”, the report said. The teen was eventually dropped off at a friend’s home in a distressed condition. Singh later told the police that it was fabricated and all that happened in the car was consensual. He also said New Zealand women are “forward and promiscuous”. As the judge gave the verdict, she said the incident had had a “significant” impact on the victim’s life, eaving her fearful of being away from home and feeling that the outside world was now “unsafe and threatening”. She also lives with “an overwhelming rage inside of her”, intensified by the court process.Singh’s counsel sought a hardship discount from the court arguing that he would face additional challenges in custody as he was a Sikh Indian who lived in New Zealand for only 11 years. “He, as you will see, is a follower of the Sikh religion, so prison would place a hardship on him as opposed to someone who was born and raised in New Zealand,” the counsel said. The judge declined the request and said Singh had worked as an Uber driver, interacting widely with the New Zealand public and should not deserve any special discount in jail. Singh’s counsel sought a suppression of his photograph claiming that a close relative of the Uber driver was suffering from mental health issues.
