Uber taxi driver held on rape charge is serial sex offender, Indian media claim
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Version 0 of 1. A taxi driver contracted to international online cab firm Uber and detained on charges of raping a female passenger last weekend in the Indian capital Delhi is a serial sexual offender with dozens of criminal complaints registered against him, local media have claimed. Alleged offences include including banditry and possession of unlicensed firearms. Police in the emerging economic power have now launched an investigation into Uber to establish if charges can be brought against the US-based firm for misrepresentation. Authorities in Delhi banned Uber from running its online service in the city on Monday and have now ordered all unregistered internet taxi firms in the city to cease work. “We are … legally examining what action can be taken against Uber for not fulfilling its promises,” BS. Bassi, Delhi’s police commissioner, told reporters on Tuesday. Bassi said officials were also seeking to establish how the alleged rapist, named as Shiv Kumar Yadav, obtained a police certificate showing a clean criminal record. One previous rape charge against Yadav had already been widely reported, prompting criticism of both local authorities and Uber. That case dated to 2011 and ended in an acquittal for lack of evidence. However, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper, Yadav was arrested and held for six months last year on another rape charge. The 32-year-old was first charged with sexual assault more than 10 years ago, in his home district of Mainpuri in the poor and lawless northern state of Uttar Pradesh. “He is a compulsive sex offender. You won’t find a single household in the village whose woman he hadn’t teased or molested. I know no less than 26-27 cases that never reached police,” Kushun Singh, a farmer and neighbour, told the newspaper. The case has caused uproar in India where a series of widely reported cases have highlighted the growing problem of sexual violence towards women in the world’s second most populous country. Almost exactly two years ago a 23-year-old physiotherapist died of injuries sustained when brutally raped by six men on a bus in Delhi on a weekend evening. That incident prompted widespread protests demanding tougher laws, better policing and a shift in cultural attitudes. Despite some reforms, reported crimes against women such as rape, dowry deaths, abduction and molestation increased by 26.7% in 2013 compared with the previous year, according to government statistics. The number of rapes in the country rose by more than a third. Police have said this was the result of more women coming forward, but some campaigners claim that social stigma and threats result in only a tiny fraction of rapes being reported. The Delhi transport department has stated that only six registered radio taxi companies would now be allowed to operate in Delhi. “We have banned Uber. Another public notice will be issued tomorrow for banning all non-registered cab service providers. It’s almost done,” said Kuldeep Singh Gangar, spokesman of the Delhi transport department. Uber operates in 11 cities in India. The US company has also been dogged by controversy surrounding its aggressive approach to local governments and traditional taxi services. On Monday, the US west coast city of Portland sued Uber to bar it from operating in the city. The company started operating in Portland on Friday without consent from authorities or any agreement over how it would be regulated. A representative for Uber said the company had not been officially notified of any ban in Delhi. Support for the ban is far from universal. Some campaigners have said that it will penalise women. Other officials have argued for better regulation. “New developments are taking place in transport systems through electronics. Banning the railways for train accidents, buses for bus accidents and taxis is not correct,” said Nitin Gadkari, the Indian transport minister. The company, recently valued at $40bn (££26bn), has said there were no defined rules in India on background checks for commercial transport licences and it was working with the government to address the issue. “What happened over the weekend in New Delhi is horrific,” Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive officer and founder, said on Sunday. “We will do everything, I repeat, everything to help bring this perpetrator to justice.” Kalanick pledged the firm would “work with the government to establish clear background checks currently absent in their commercial transportation licensing programmes”. |