Cabbie ‘endangered victim’s life’

A NEW Delhi court has reserved its order until Tuesday on framing of charges against an Uber cab driver accused of raping a woman executive.

Judge Kaveri Baweja made the decision on Friday after the prosecution told the court that the driver had endangered the victim’s life by causing grievous injuries during the sexual assault and tried to engage in “unnatural” sex.

Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, allegedly raped the woman on the night of December 5 in the cab she hired to head back home in north Delhi’s Inderlok area.

Prosecutor Atul Srivastava informed the court that Yadav had caused injuries to the victim while committing rape. The victim had swollen lower lips and scratch marks, a medical examination showed, a result of an attempt to force the woman to engage in “unnatural” sex.

Srivastava requested the court to frame charges against Yadav to reflect that he had endangered the victim’s life.

Relying on the victim’s statement, he added that Yadav had tried to strangle her, as indicated by the scratch marks on her neck.

The defence counsel argued that the injuries on her neck did not establish that the victim had been strangled.

The prosecution argued that Yadav drove the woman to an isolated place intending to commit the crime, but the defence counsel said the driver followed the route to the victim’s house as she had instructed.

The prosecution added that Yadav had threatened the victim by saying that he would insert a rod in her private parts, but the defence submitted that no such weapon was recovered from the car.

Police charged Yadav for rape, kidnapping or abducting a woman, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt under the Indian Penal Code.

In the charge sheet, which is more than 100 pages, police cited 44 prosecution witnesses in support of their case.

Police also relied on forensic evidence and placed on record the route map of the car in which the offence was committed. — Indo-Asian News Service