Uber cab rape case: Traumatised due to undue delay in proceedings, victim tells court

New Delhi: The 25-year-old woman, allegedly raped by a driver of Uber cab service provider, is understood to have told a Delhi court on Thursday that she was traumatised due to the undue delay in proceedings owing to dilatory tactics of accused and being made to relive the ghastly incident. The victim, who was recalled as a prosecution witness to be cross-examined again by counsel for accused Shiv Kumar Yadav, made the submission before Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja during an in-camera proceeding, sources said. [caption id=“attachment_2138695” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The statement was recorded in the presence of the judge and only the parties concerned. The sources said the victim told the judge that she was being forced to relive the incident as she was made to appear in court again. To this, the judge asked Yadav’s counsel how much time he would require to cross-examine the victim and how many questions he wanted her to answer. The woman was also asked several questions by the defence counsel regarding her routine which she had followed since morning on the date of incident on 5 December, 2014. Her cross examination, which remained inconclusive, would continue on 7 March. The court, which was hearing final arguments in the case, had yesterday summoned the woman in compliance of the Delhi High Court order that was passed on an appeal filed by Yadav seeking to recall all the 28 prosecution witnesses to cross examine them again in the case. The high court had allowed Yadav to recall 13 prosecution witnesses including the victim, doctors, forensic expert and investigating officer of the case. According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the night of 5 December last year when the victim, a finance executive working in Gurgaon, was heading back home. Police said the woman had taken the taxi from Vasant Vihar to return to her house in Inderlok and the accused, who took another route, allegedly raped her. Yadav was arrested on 7 December, 2014 from Mathura. In her statement recorded before the court earlier, the woman had identified Yadav as the one who had raped her. The court had on 18 February rejected Yadav’s plea to recall the witnesses saying it was an endeavour to “delay the proceedings” and an attempt to “protract the trial”. Yadav’s advocate had sought to recall the 28 prosecution witnesses on the ground that the earlier defence counsel was “incompetent” and that he was not given fair opportunity to defend himself. The plea was opposed by the prosecutor who had said a change of defence counsel was no ground to recall witnesses. The court has framed charges against Yadav under IPC for alleged offences of endangering a woman’s life while raping her, abducting with an intent to compel her for marriage and criminally intimidating and causing hurt. The trial in the case had commenced on January 15 and the prosecution concluded recording its evidence in 17 days by examining 28 witnesses. The accused had not examined any witness in his defence. The court had also recorded the testimony of the accused in which he termed the charge against him as “false”. If convicted in the case, Yadav faces a maximum of life imprisonment as punishment. PTI