CHINA TOPIX

03/29/2024 08:01:49 am

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Woman Killed by Driver of Popular Chinese Car-Sharing Company

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(Photo : ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) Safety concerns about the use of car-hailing services has been growing among the Chinese population.

A young woman traveling to her workplace on Monday was killed along the way by the driver of the car she had called for a ride.

The victim, a 24-year-old primary school teacher, had called for a car from the car-hailing company Didi Chuxing, according to Southern Metropolis News. She was going to the school Monday night when the incident happened.

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Before entering the vehicle, the woman was able to take a blurred photo of the car's rear showing its number plate, which she posted online. Later, a post in an online forum said that the victim's family was unable to contact her.

The driver, a 24-year-old man, was caught the following day in his rented residence, Nanshan District police revealed. He admitted to robbing and killing her the teacher, before dumping her body in a remote area in the city of Shenzhen.

Real Credentials, Fake Vehicle

Car-hailing company Didi explained in its microblog that the suspect had genuine credentials, including a real ID, a driving permit as well as vehicle registration papers. However, the number plate of the car used in the crime is different from that of the car registered with the company.

Didi has vowed to monitor its drivers more strictly in light of this incident.

Growing Fears

The murder of the school teacher highlights one of the reasons why many members of the public have fears about using car-sharing services. Earlier in March, thousands of Chinese drivers who registered for car-hailing companies such as Didi Chuxing and Uber were found to have criminal records, some of them related to criminal offences and some to drug abuse, according to South China Morning Post.

Shenzhen authorities said that at that time, 1,425 drivers working for the car-sharing companies had records of drug abuse while another 1,661 had records for other criminal offences. At least one driver was a registered psychiatric patient with a history of violence in public.

In April, reports of car-hailing service drivers posting photos of unsuspecting passengers on the internet was the subject of a heated public debate.

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