Car-hailing firm may be liable in killing

DIDI CHUXING, a car-hailing service company headquartered in Beijing, has suspended its car-hailing operations for a week to conduct thorough rectification after a 21-year-old flight stewardess, was allegedly murdered by the driver of a car she ordered in Zhengzhou, Henan province, last week. Beijing News comments:

According to reports quoting his neighbors, the driver of the vehicle hailed by the woman was driving a car registered under his father's name on the Didi Chuxing platform that night, breaching the company' rules. The company said the father had passed the verification process and criminal background checks required by the company.

Yet despite having a facial recognition system for its drivers, the company had no idea who was driving the car until the police found it and made inquiries, and even though the victim complained of the driver's verbal sexual harassment to the customer service department of the company before her death, the company failed to contact the driver, and did nothing to address the woman's concerns.