Uber driver gets life sentence for rape; women activists welcome verdict
NEW DELHI: A court on Tuesday jailed a driver of US-based ridehailing company Uber for life for raping a passenger, in a case that highlighted the dangers faced by women from violent attackers.
Driver Shiv Kumar Yadav received the maximum sentence after he was found guilty last month of the rape, kidnapping and criminal intimidation of the woman, who had hailed a ride home from a party in Delhi last December.
Yadav got his job with Uber with fake references, enabling him to hide his criminal record.
The firm, valued at $50 billion this year, was banned in Delhi as a result and has only recently regained the right to operate after tightening driver checks.
“Keeping in view the facts and evidences in the case, I sentence Shiv Kumar Yadav, to rigorous life imprisonment,” Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja told the court. The case revived memories of the horrific rape and murder on a moving bus of a young physiotherapist in Delhi in 2012.
The authorities fast-tracked Yadav’s trial to meet the public’s demand for swift justice.
“We are happy that justice has been delivered and that the process didn’t take that long,” said Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner with the Delhi police.
The victim, a woman working for an international consulting firm, fell asleep on the way home.
Yadav then drove to a secluded place and raped her. Yadav’s lawyer, D.K. Mishra, said he would appeal against the sentence in a higher court.”My client is innocent,” he told reporters after the sentence was passed.
The passenger also sued Uber in a US federal court in January, but later withdrew her suit.
Criticism
Indian authorities face sustained criticism for not doing enough to address a weak system of law enforcement and policing that leaves women vulnerable to such crimes.
In 2014, 36,735 rapes were committed and nearly 338,000 crimes against women were reported, according to data from India’s National Crime Records Bureau. After the December incident, Uber introduced safety measures and tightened driver checks.
Last month, the federal government released guidelines to regulate online taxi companies, saying they should do stringent security checks and not contract anyone convicted of a “cognizable offence” under India’s criminal laws.
Meanwhile, women’s organisations on Tuesday welcomed the life imprisonment given to an Uber cab driver for rape by a Delhi court, saying such a “swift verdict” will boost the confidence of the people in the judiciary.
Lauding the verdict, Delhi Commission for Women’s chairperson Swati Maliwal tweeted, “Welcome Uber rape case verdict. Appeal to judiciary and government to ensure all rape cases esp child rape cases to be tried within 1 year.(sic)”
Director of Centre for Social Research (CSR), Ranjana Kumari said such a “swift verdict” will boost the confidence of the people in the judiciary.
“Verdict in this case was swift. The maximum punishment under the law has been given. This should become an example for all other similar cases.”
All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) general secretary Jagmati Sangwan said, “The speed with which justice was delivered in this case is worth praising and should be replicated in other instances too.