Taxi Jihad: Umar rapes two drunk passengers and tries to run off to Bangkok

Bail for taxi driver accused of raping two drunk passengers

A MELBOURNE taxi driver who booked a ticket on an international flight after ~~allegedly~~ raping two drunk passengers has been bailed on a $100,000 surety.

Usman Safdar, 24, is alleged to have taken advantage of two intoxicated female passengers in separate incidents seven months apart by engaging them in conversation and raping them in his taxi.

One complainant feared she was going to die like Jill Meagher when Mr Safdar allegedly grabbed her around the throat and kissed her in the early hours of October 27, a court previously heard.

The woman, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, called her husband on her mobile to try to discourage interaction with the driver, according to a tendered police summary.

It was alleged Mr Safdar touched the intoxicated woman’s knee, stroked her hair and kissed her hand before grabbing her around the throat and raping her in the back seat of his taxi, parked two blocks from her home.

Mr Safdar claims the woman called her husband and said how nice her taxi driver was before having consensual sex with him in the back of the cab, defence counsel Phil Dunn, QC, told the Victorian Supreme Court today.

The court heard the driver covered a video camera on the front dashboard of the taxi with a cloth during the alleged March incident and for part of the alleged October incident.

Mr Dunn said the jury would use the four minutes of footage taken before the camera was covered to make up their minds about what occurred.

On October 27, the day of the second complaint, police contacted the Victorian Taxi Directorate – which contacted the taxi owner – to obtain the footage.

The owner then alerted Mr Safdar, a Pakistani on a student visa, who used the internet to book a flight out of the country.

He then went to a travel agent to confirm the plans, but was told he would have trouble staying in Bangkok because of his Pakistani passport, the court heard.

His brother, Adil Safdar, urged him to come home and contact the police, who later arrested him.

Arresting officer Det-Sgt Russell Sheather said Mr Safdar’s mobile phone contained a travel itinerary and internet search about sex crimes.

“The first page I observed was a Google-type search for sexual assault investigation,” he told the court.

Sgt Sheather said Mr Safdar, who was unlocking the phone before handing it over, quickly deleted the search.

Mr Safdar was questioned after the alleged rape of a 33-year-old female passenger in similar circumstances in March, but was not charged with the crime until after the second incident.

Prosecutor Robyn Harper said bail should be refused – as it had been twice before in the Magistrates’ Court.

But Justice Paul Coghlan released Mr Safdar on bail with a $100,000 surety and with conditions – including that he report to police twice daily, surrender his passport and not drive a taxi or enter a licensed premises.

“Although I’m satisfied there is risk of flight, I’m not convinced it is an unacceptable risk of flight with appropriate conditions,” Justice Coghlan said.

“The same could be said of his risk of re-offending.”

The judge told Adil Safdar non-compliance with his undertaking to alert police if his brother breached bail conditions could result in contempt of court charges or loss of the surety.

Mr Safdar – who will live in Burnside Heights and no longer has a taxi licence – will re-appear in court on December 21.