An Indian bus driver trapped a lone female passenger inside his vehicle, asked for a hug and to kiss her hand, turned the lights off, and groped her breast, an Auckland judge has found.
Kartik Kamiesh Kumar, 46, faced a judge-alone trial in the Waitakere District Court this week after being charged with indecent assault over the February 2025 attack, and was found guilty by Judge Terry Singh, who found his evidence unconvincing.
The victim, an international student at an English language school in Auckland’s CBD, testified via videolink from her home country with the help of a translator, while Kumar was also assisted by a Hindi translator while taking the stand, the NZ Herald reported.
The victim told the court she was travelling home when she transferred buses at about 10.10pm, said “hi” to the driver, tagged on with her transport card, sat down and started listening to music.
She then noticed the driver was trying to talk to her, thought maybe she forgot to tag on, and got up to speak to the driver, dropping her wireless headphones.
She told the court she was surprised when Kumar instead wanted to talk about “personal things”, but said she did not feel uneasy because in her few months of experience living in the country New Zealanders were “very friendly”.
But Kumar did not open the doors when the bus reached her stop, and instead of letting her off said “please let me hug you”. She replied she could not because she had a boyfriend
Kumar then asked to kiss her hand, which she said made her feel “very scared”. Fearing she might be murdered if she refused, she held out her hand and Kumar kissed it, an act caught on black and white CCTV footage from inside the bus.
She then told the court Kumar “rubbed repeatedly on my breast” for about three seconds before he opened the doors and she fled, called her boyfriend, and filed a police report.
Kumar, who had been a bus driver for 13 years and was hired via an agency in Fiji 18 months earlier along with 50 other drivers to fill staff shortages, told the court he heard a loud noise made by something falling onto the floor, and that the victim picked the item up and approached him.
He testified she had headphones in her hand, and he accused her of stealing property left on the bus by someone else and grabbed her wrist. He told the court he held her wrist again because she was trying to open the doors with the emergency exit button, and to stop her “falling out” of the moving bus.
Kumar denied turning off the lights, and when professionally brightened CCTV footage was shown to the court he claimed the lights were still on even when the image appeared to darken.
Police prosecutor Jazween Mala asked Kumar why he believed the headphones were stolen if there was no one else on the bus, and Kumar said they could have been left on a seat and fallen off while he was driving.
Judge Singh said Kumar’s refusal to admit the lights were off was “telling”, said he was of the view that Kumar turned them off on purpose to hide his indecent assault from the CCTV cameras, and found the charge proven.
Kumar’s lawyer asked for no conviction to be entered before sentencing to avoid immigration issues for his client, and indicated he might apply for a discharge without conviction.
The matter will return to court again at the end of the month to set a date for a sentencing or discharge hearing.
Header image: The CCTV of Kumar kissing his victim’s hand (supplied).
