An Uber driver in India was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping a young woman on Friday who fell asleep as she was driving home from work at a finance company in the country’s capital of New Delhi.
The driver, whose identity has been revealed to be 32-year-old Shiv Kumar Yadav, was reportedly missing for over 24 hours following the incident as Uber said they worked with police. Police, on the other hand, criticized Uber for their lack of adequate safety checks on drivers.
All the while, student protesters confronted police in India’s capital over what’s been widely seen as a sexual assault epidemic in the country.
Before the driver was apprehended, Uber made an official announcement explaining their aid to police:
Upon being notified of this incident, our team immediately provided the local authorities with all relevant details, including:
- driver (name, age, photo, complete driver’s license details, bank verified address)
- vehicle (license, registration, insurance, state-issued driver permit)
- trip details (trip data, route, pick-up & drop-off location)
Police criticism came from Delhi Special Commissioner Deepak Mishra, who said, “Our initial investigations have revealed shortcomings of the private cab company which didn’t have GPS installed in its cabs and the staff wasn’t verified.”
Uber countered: “We work with licensed driver-partners to provide a safe transportation option, with layers of safeguards such as driver and vehicle information, and ETA-sharing [estimated time of arrival] to ensure there is accountability and traceability of all trips that occur on the Uber platform.”
Uber, established in 2009, is present in dozens of countries and recently attracted investment, which values it at $40bn (£25bn).
The latest allegation of rape has again put the spotlight on the issue of sexual violence against Indian women, following a series of recent incidents.
The All India Students Association protested on Sunday after news of the assault spread. Next week is the two-year anniversary of the gang rape and murder of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh Pandey on a bus in Delhi that catalyzed protests around the country.
H/T Associated Press | Photo Julian GONG Min/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
