A passerby and alert staff of a police control room (PCR) averted rerun of the infamous Uber rape in South-West Delhi’s Dwarka area when a taxi driver, who tried to sexually assault a woman passenger, was chased and arrested by police. The accused has been identified as Ramesh Kumar (38), a resident of Najafgarh. The accused, who is a school dropout, has been booked on charges of rape, criminal intimidation and wrongful confinement.
It all began around 10.20 pm on Thursday, when the woman who works at a mall in Rajouri Garden in West Delhi got down at Dwarka Mor Metro station and boarded a taxi towards Madhu Vihar. One more passenger had taken the same taxi got down at Rajapuri. “Soon after this, the taxi driver parked the vehicle by the side of the road. He got into the rear seat and forcefully tried to disrobe the victim. When she resisted, he slapped and punched her on the face and head. Accused Ramesh Kumar also assaulted her and threatened her with life if she shouted,” said DCP (South-West) RA Sanjeev.
later, accused Kumar started the taxi and was moving towards Madhu Vihar. In the meantime, a passerby heard the cries of the victim for help and informed the nearby PCR van. The police personnel posted chased the taxi and apprehended the accused, he added. SHO Dwarka (North) police station reached the spot along with a woman sub-inspector and rushed the victim to a nearby hospital.
Police registered a case under sections 376 (rape), 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the statement of the victim and the accused was arrested. Police registered a case of rape in the matter as under the amended definition of rape law, trying to disrobe a woman with intent to sexually assault also comes under section 376 of IPC. The accused is a Class IX dropout and has been driving cabs since 1996.
It may be recalled that in December last year, a 27-year-old woman was allegedly raped by the driver of an Uber cab she had hired to return home from a dinner party in Gurgaon. The incident took place when the woman, who worked for a finance company in Gurgaon, was heading back home in North Delhi’s Inderlok area.