First female cab driver in India found dead in her home

Veerath Bharathi, Uber's first female cab driver in India, was found dead in her rented house in the city's northwest suburb, police said on Tuesday, June 28.

"It appears to be a case of suicide, as the victim's (V. Bharathi) body was found hanging by a cloth-like rope from the ceiling of a room by her landlord on Monday night," Sanjay Nagar police inspector Prakash said.

Though no suicide note was found in her house, police registered a case of unnatural death and shifted the body to a state-run hospital for autopsy to ascertain the cause of Bharathi's death.

"The landlord went to the third floor of his house where Bharathi was staying in the rented portion to check her whereabouts as he did not see her again since Sunday night and found her body hanging through the room's window and alerted us," Prakash recalled.

Bharathi, who hails from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, was staying alone in the house as she was single and orphaned. Her cab was found parked in front of the house in Nagashettyhalli colony.

"As per our records, Bharathi was one of the early women taxi drivers in the city and joined the all-women cab service, Angel City Cabs two years ago and later registered her vehicle with aggregator Uber, the online personal transportation firm," Prakash added.