A local court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment, till his natural death, to Uber taxi driver Shiv Kumar Yadav for raping a woman executive in his cab in December last year.
The court stated that the convict not only committed a heinous crime against the 25-year-old finance executive but also against society. Meanwhile, various women organisations welcomed the verdict and lauded the “swiftness” of the judicial system in this case.
The court also directed the Delhi legal Services Authority to provide maintenance for the aged parents, wife and three minor children of the convict in view of the fact that the innocent family of the convict will suffer because of Shiv Kumar Yadav’s crime.
While pronouncing the sentence, Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja said, “There can be no doubt that the convict in the present case namely Shiv Kumar Yadav, committed the heinous offence, not only against the rape survivor in this case, but also against society at large.
He endangered the life of the victim while committing rape upon her and his act demands imposition of the most severe punishment so that it acts as a deterrent for others and rebuilds the public’s confidence in the efficacy of law.”
“Keeping in view the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, I am therefore of the opinion that the interest of justice would be served, if convict Shiv Kumar Yadav is sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life which shall mean imprisonment till his remaining natural life,” the judge said.
32-year-old Yadav has been sentenced under Section 376 (2) (m) (while committing rape causes grievous bodily harm or disfigures or endangers life of a woman), Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), Section 366 (kidnapping) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code. He has also been slapped with a fine of Rs 21,000 by the court.
The fine paid by the accused will be released to the victim by way of compensation. The family members of the victim who were present in the court said that they were satisfied with the judgement.
The prosecution while arguing on the quantum of sentence had asked for life imprisonment while defence lawyer DK Mishra prayed for leniency claiming that Yadav has a family to support comprising his old parents, wife and three minor children. Yadav’s father is a retired teacher and gets pension. However the other family members are solely dependent upon Yadav’s earnings.
Moments after pronouncement of the judgement, Yadav, his wife, father and daughters started crying inconsolably. His wailing wife also fainted in the courtroom.
According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the night of December 5, 2014 when the victim, a finance executive working in Gurgaon, was heading back to her house at Inderlok in Central Delhi. The accused, who fled after committing the crime, was arrested on December 7, 2014 from Mathura. The prosecution had produced 28 witnesses in the case.
The prosecution stressed on the statements made by the victim saying that she was terrorised by the convict who threatened to insert an iron rod into her body. This led to heated arguments between the prosecution and the defence lawyer.
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Atul Shrivastava said the convict has a long criminal record and has other cases pending against him in Uttar Pradesh including a rape case.
“Rape murders soul of a person. We need to see the manner in which the act was executed. The woman is not the only victim but the whole society is a victim here. So, I request that maximum punishment be given to him,” the SPP said.
lauding the verdict, Delhi Commission for Women’s chairperson Swati Maliwal tweeted, “Welcome Uber rape case verdict. Appeal to judiciary and Government to ensure all rape cases esp child rape cases to be tried within one year.” (sic)
Director of Centre for Social Research Ranjana Kumari said such a “swift verdict” will boost the confidence of the people in the judiciary. “Verdict in this case was swift. The maximum punishment under the law has been given. This should become an example for all other similar cases.”