Beijing, Aug 26: China's top cab aggregator Didi has suspended its 'Hitch' carpool service, a day after the rape and murder of a 20-year-old passenger by the driver. This is the second incident of rape-murder committed by an on-duty Hitch driver in the past three months.

In a statement issued by Didi on Sunday, the taxi-hailing giant said there are deficiencies in the Hitch service, as evident by the disappointing mistakes. The carpooling service will cease to exist from August 27, until a complete revamp is undertaken, it added.

Hitch had gained popularity among cab users as it offered budget commutation through polling services.

The henious rape-murder was reported on Friday when the girl had boarded the taxi in at Wenzhou city in the eastern province of Zhejiang in the afternoon.

As the driver took a different route than what was leading to her destination, the victim sent a series of texts to relatives, family members and friends. By the time they tried reaching her, the victim's phone was unreachable, local media reports said quoting the police.

The accused, identified as Zhong, was arrested on Saturday morning and has reportedly confessed to have sexually assaulted the victim before stabbing her to death.

A similar incident was reported in May, when a 21-year-old was raped and murdered by a Hitch driver. In 2016, another Hitch driver was charged of robbing and murdering a 24-year-old girl southern China.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 26, 2018 03:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).