A 43-year-old woman from the Leningrad region has accused a foreign taxi driver she connected with through a dating site of rape inside a vehicle. This allegation has been reported by a local television broadcaster as of the latest update on the case.
According to the broadcast, the incident reportedly occurred on February 20 along Shuvalov Street in Murino. The Russian woman alleges that the taxi driver, a foreign national she met via an online dating platform, assaulted her inside the car and issued death threats during the attack. She managed to escape when the driver attempted to start the vehicle, seizing the moment to flee the scene.
Following the incident, the woman notified the police. Law enforcement authorities detained a 32-year-old Turkmen national on suspicion of committing the crime. It is stated that this individual had been involved in a document forgery case in 2023, according to the reports from law enforcement sources referenced by the broadcaster.
As the investigation advances, a criminal case has been opened and the suspect has been placed in custody. Police are actively coordinating to clarify all circumstances surrounding the incident, including the sequence of events, the driver’s background, and the woman’s account of what transpired inside the vehicle.
In a separate but related report, a separate incident previously occurred in which a woman reported being raped by a stranger near a residential building in Moscow. These cases underscore ongoing safety concerns for women traveling with unfamiliar drivers, and local authorities continue to investigate and review safety protocols for ride-hailing services and dating connections that can lead to real-world encounters. Authorities emphasize the importance of reporting such incidents promptly and providing full details to assist investigations, while authorities also remind the public to exercise caution when meeting strangers online and to verify driver identities and vehicle details prior to embarking on any ride. [Source attribution: Local TV news coverage]