Dubai: A young Egyptian woman is fighting for her life after she jumped from a moving car affiliated to a popular-ride-hailing app, purportedly to escape sexual harassment and kidnapping, local media reported.
The 24-year-old Habiba Al Shammaa booked a ride from New Cairo’s upscale Madinaty neighbourhood to the Fifth Settlement last week. However, she suddenly opened the door and jumped out of the moving vehicle.
Al Shammaa remains unconscious in a hospital’s intensive care unit, battling a brain haemorrhage and relying on a ventilator for support.
The incident happened just 10 minutes into the nearly 30-minute journey, when Al Shammaa leaped out of the vehicle on the Suez Road, perceiving it as a kidnapping attempt, as recounted by her mother during comments to a local TV channel on Saturday.
She tumbled along the road until colliding with a sidewalk, resulting in multiple injuries. A passerby who witnessed the incident rushed her to the hospital.
The mother said that she called her daughter, but their conversation was hindered by the driver’s loud music, making it difficult for the mother to discern her daughter’s voice over the phone.
“I overheard the driver engaging in a heated phone conversation. I then urged my daughter to exit the vehicle due to her concerns, but she reassured me, promising to keep me updated upon arrival,” Habiba’s mother said.
Later on the day, the mother received the distressing news of her daughter’s hospitalisation via a phone call. The Ministry of Interior launched an investigation into the incident, prompted by eyewitnesses reporting the woman’s fear of harassment.
The driver, subsequently apprehended and interrogated, refuted any wrongdoing, claiming surprise at the woman’s action.
The ministry revealed the driver’s prior criminal record.
The incident has unleashed a wave of criticism on social media, with numerous users voicing their grievances and recounting their own negative encounters with the company.
