|
 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, which became
the subject of a BBC documentary that was banned by the Indian
government this year.
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 U.S. federal court in January, but
later withdrew her suit.
Indian authorities face sustained criticism for not doing enough to
address a weak system of law enforcement and policing that leaves
women vulnerable to sex crimes.
[to top of second column] |
Politicians often blame rape victims for the crime committed against
them in comments that reflect entrenched patriarchal attitudes in
India.
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. A court recently revoked the ban on the
company's services in Delhi.
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 offense"
under India's criminal laws.
(Reporting by Suchitra Mohanty, Writing by Aditya Kalra; Editing by
Douglas Busvine, Robert Birsel)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
