Taxi driver who kicked pregnant woman out of cab given house arrest

KOCAELİ

A taxi driver who kicked a pregnant woman in labor out of his cab in the Marmara province of Kocaeli’s Çayırova district has been sentenced to house arrest.

The driver, identified only by the initials M.B., took Aisha Hashem, a Syrian woman whose water had just broken, into his cab but later kicked her out after she showed signs of labor.

The woman was later giving birth on the street in front of her house. She gave birth to the baby two minutes before being taken to hospital with an ambulance.

The mother and the newborn baby, who were found to have no health problems, were discharged after a medical check-up in hospital.

The footage of the taxi driver’s kicking Hashem out of his vehicle stirred anger on social media.

The driver, who was taken into custody by police teams, said he was upset because his “cab was covered in blood” in his statement to prosecutors. He has been sentenced to house arrest for “not fulfilling his obligation to help” as stated in the Turkish Criminal Code.