Uber cab rape: Delhi Police finally arrests Uber driver from Mathura

Delhi Police arrested the driver accused of raping a 27-year-old woman on Friday, from Mathura. The police had announced Rs 1 lakh award for the arrest of the cabbie . Police had also deployed four teams of five members each to trace the 32-year-old driver, identified as Shiv Kumar Yadav, who had switched off his mobile phone since the incident to avoid being traced. 

Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police, Madhur Verma, however, said that there has been "a lot of negligence in terms of security" on the part of the company. "There is no GPS (global positioning system) installed in the vehicle and there was no background check or driver verification done with the police."

One person had been detained in connection with the rape of 27-year-old woman in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The man in his early 30s and the police are in the verifying whether he is the accused in the case The police was hot on the trails of the driver, with special cell, crime branch as well as the north district raiding his suspected hideouts, say reports. Medical tests have confirmed that the 27-year-old woman was raped, PTI reported. 

According to media reports, the Delhi Police has issued a notice to the cab company asking for it take part in the investigations.

After the rape of a woman professional by the driver of the Uber cab came to light, the radio cab company has come out with a statement saying that they are working with the police in the investigations and will provide assistance in all possible way.  Uber tendered an apology regarding the case.

We are deeply disturbed by the reported incident. Our thoughts are with the victim. We are actively and fully cooperating with authorities.

— Uber Delhi (@Uber_Delhi) December 6, 2014

While an investigation and police work are in progress, we continue to keep the victim in our thoughts. Updates here: http://t.co/MaAokiLaOc

— Uber Delhi (@Uber_Delhi) December 7, 2014

"We became aware of the incident this morning. Safety is Uber’s highest priority and we take situations like this very seriously. We are working with the police as they investigate, and will assist them in any way we can to determine what happened. It is also our policy to immediately suspend a driver’s account following allegations of a serious incident, which we have done. In India, 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 to ensure there is accountability and traceability of all trips that occur on the Uber platform," stated a release from the company.

Also Read: Why Uber's 'security measures' are not foolproof

On Friday night, the woman had hired a cab through Uber to return home from a dinner party in Gurgaon. She was heading back to her home in north Delhi. 

On the way, the woman dozed off on the back seat of the car only to wake up and find that they had stopped at a secluded spot. She found that the car doors were locked and, when she tried to raise an alarm, the driver thrashed her and then committed rape, police said. The accused then dropped her off near her home in Inderlok after threatening to kill her if she spoke of the matter to anybody.

"The woman clicked a photograph of the car's number plate and then made a PCR call to report the incident," police said. She was sent for a medical examination, which confirmed rape but showed that she was not given any sedatives.

"A case has been registered at Sarai Rohilla police station under Sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC. We have identified the cab company and the driver, who is in his mid-30s. Raids are being conducted to nab him," police had said

Delhi recorded the highest number of rapes in India in 2013, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, earning the dubious distinction of being India's "rape capital".

Police attribute the rise in reports to more women coming forward due to greater public awareness following the high profile gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in December 2012.

With agency inputs