Authorities said that a New York woman was allegedly raped inside a stranger's vehicle in Staten Island over the weekend after the victim hailed a vehicle falsely assuming that it was her rideshare.

The victim, whose identity has been withheld by police, reportedly hopped into the attacker's car on Forest Avenue near Ridgewood Place in Tompkinsville around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, the New York Post reported.

The man behind the wheel allegedly drove just a few blocks from where he picked up the woman before slamming the brakes. He then aggressively grabbed the woman to restrain her and coerce her into the backseat where he allegedly raped the victim.

The woman claimed that she was then forced out of the car before her attacker sped off.

She was subsequently taken to Richmond University Medical Center by private means after calling for help. Medical staff at the facility said that she sustained non-life-threatening injuries from the ordeal.

According to law enforcement, investigations are underway, and that they could not confirm just yet whether the vehicle was indeed a rideshare or a mere random car she mistook for her ride.

Meanwhile, in Melbourne, Australia, a Pakistani national has been registered as a sex offender for life and could be deported back to his homeland after he was slapped with a six-year prison sentence in the County Court of Victoria on Friday for preying on vulnerable drunk women and sexually assaulting them in 2019.

The offender, Sharjeel Mirza, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and one count of rape after he posed as an Uber driver and launched his sexual attacks against two women aged 19 and 26, according to The Guardian.

The court heard that Mirza was formerly registered with the rideshare company but was no longer affiliated with Uber when he approached two young women in March and July 2019. At one point, he would cajole victims to trust in him, feigning he was a student paramedic.

Mirza, on both occasions, waited for a time alone with the inebriated victims before he would place their hands on his genitals and rub their thighs.

“Once the victims were inside your car, intoxicated and alone, you exploited their vulnerable state to sexually offend against them,” Judge Amanda Chambers said, noting that following Mirza's arrest in March 2019, he deliberately continued to perform appalling sexual conduct against young women.

Mirza will serve at least three years before being eligible for parole, Perth Now noted.

Uber
The man behind the wheel allegedly drove just a few blocks from where he picked up the woman before slamming the brakes. He then aggressively grabbed the woman to restrain her and get in the backseat, where he allegedly raped the victim. This is a representational image. Unsplash

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