Delhi Uber rape case: Govt promises steps to bring offender to justice

New Delhi: Government will take all necessary steps to bring to justice the driver of Uber cab service who had allegedly raped a woman passenger here last week, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday. The Government of India strongly condemns this dastardly act. It will be ensured that all necessary steps are taken to bring the offender to justice," he said in a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha. Giving details of the incident that occurred on the night of December 5, he said the driver, who was absconding after the incident, was arrested yesterday from Mathura and was being produced before a Delhi court today. [caption id=“attachment_1838061” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Reuters image.[/caption] “Following the clues at hand and through painstaking investigation, the culprit driver was zeroed down as one person from Mathura, owner of the vehicle Swift Desire No. number DL-1YD 7910. He has this vehicle registered with Uber Cab Service. “The vehicle used in the crime has been found and brought to Delhi where it will be subjected to thorough forensic examination,” Singh said. He said the victim, who worked in Gurgaon, had gone to Vasant Vihar with some friends and was returning home in the cab. She had dozed off for a while when she suddenly realized that the taxi was parked at an isolated place and the driver was trying to molest her on the back seat. “She tried to raise an alarm but the driver threatened her of physical injury and then she was sexually assaulted in the car,” the Minister said, adding that after committing the crime the driver dropped her at her home at around 0100 hours and threatened her not to disclose the incident to anyone. He said the woman, who had lodged an FIR at the Sarai Rohilla police station, was sent for medical examination and also counselled by an NGO volunteer authorised by Delhi Commission for Women. Through a Zero Hour notice, Rajiv Ranjan (RJD) said the rise in such incidents in the country was to the extent of 35.8 per cent since the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi in 2012. He said recently at Ludhiana in Punjab, a girl was raped by seven persons. The victim received 80 per cent burns as she was set on fire later. In Haryana, a nine-year-old girl was brutally killed after several people raped her, he said demanding an inquiry in both the incidents. Apparently referring to the recent rape of a woman executive in Delhi, he wondered as to when Delhi will be safe and secure for women. PTI