Thread: Indian Woman Plans to Sue Uber in Rape Case

NEW DELHI—
A woman who allegedly was raped by an Uber taxi driver in India's capital has hired a prominent lawyer to sue the online-hailing taxi service in U.S. courts.

The financial executive, who cannot be named under an Indian law that grants rape victims anonymity, has hired Douglas Wigdor, a New York-based employment lawyer.

"We have been in talks over the last few weeks, which led to me being retained," Wigdor said in an email, declining to comment on the basis or timing of any case.

Among recent work, Wigdor represented the hotel maid who accused former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault.

The Delhi government blacklisted Uber from operating in the capital last month after the alleged attack on the passenger as she returned home from seeing friends.

The case triggered protests and reignited a debate about the safety of women in Asia's third-largest economy, especially in New Delhi, which has been dubbed India's rape capital.

Public outrage was further fuelled when it was revealed the man was out on bail for sexual assault and Uber acknowledged that it did not carry out background checks on drivers in India.

Uber discussing renewed operations

An Uber spokesman declined to comment on the case. He said the company was in talks with the Delhi government to restart operations in the city.

The U.S. company, which was valued at $40 billion last month, has been dogged by controversy surrounding its aggressive approach to local governments, traditional taxi services and concerns about safety.

Indian Woman Plans to Sue Uber in Rape Case

Indian Uber Driver Convicted of Rape



NEW DELHI — An Indian Uber taxi driver was found guilty of raping his passenger a year ago by an Indian court Tuesday, lawyers said.

Shiv Kumar Yadav faces up to life imprisonment in the sentencing due Friday, his lawyer DK Mishra said.

The 25-year-old female passenger said that she fell asleep in the cab when the driver stopped a remote spot and raped her.

The incident happened in Dec. 5 when the woman, a finance executive, was traveling from her workplace in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi, to her home in the north of the city.

Yadav was arrested two days later at a nearby town.

Delhi police filed charges and temporarily banned the U.S.-based online car-sharing company Uber saying it had failed to conduct basic safety checks.

"The accused has been convicted of all charges against him," said DK Mishra, a lawyer acting for Yadav. "The prosecution said the alleged victim's sole testimony was sufficient to convict him and the honorable court agreed."

He was convicted of rape, abduction and causing grievous hurt.

Attacks on women and sexual violence have been a focus of public attention in India since the fatal gang rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012, which triggered mass protests.

Indian Uber Driver Convicted of Rape

Indian Uber Driver Gets life in Jail for Rape

New Delhi — The victim, a 25-year-old finance executive, was assaulted on December 5 while travelling from her workplace in Gurgaon, a suburb of New Delhi, to her home in the north of the city.

Driver Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, was found guilty of rape, criminal intimidation, kidnapping and endangering the woman's life by a fast-track trial court in the Indian capital last month.

"We had asked the court for the maximum punishment of life imprisonment, so a strong message goes out to the society. The court found merit in our argument," special public prosecutor Atul Srivastava told reporters outside the court.

Life imprisonment under the provisions of recently introduced tougher rape laws means a jail term until the end of the convict's remaining natural life, Srivastava explained.

The offense of endangering a woman's life while raping her entails a minimum of 10 years rigorous imprisonment and a maximum punishment of life term.

Yadav had pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, DK Mishra, has said he will appeal against the sentence in a higher court. The victim's family told local media outlets they were satisfied with the stringent punishment.

Police had arrested Yadav days after the sexual assault in a town near Delhi. It said Yadav had been accused of previous sexual assaults, but never convicted.

The rape had put the spotlight once again on the safety of women in the Indian capital.



Attacks on women have been a focus of public attention in India since the fatal gang rape of a student on a bus in Delhi in 2012, which sparked mass protests.



Delhi Police had temporarily banned the US-based online car sharing company and several other app-based taxi aggregators soon after the assault, saying they had failed to conduct basic background checks.

India is Uber's largest market outside the United States, with service in about 18 cities.

Uber had apologized for the incident and said it would improve its vetting systems.

"Sexual assault is a terrible crime, and we're pleased he [Yadav] has now been brought to justice," Uber's India operations president Amit Jain said last week.

The sentencing comes days after reports of the rape of two children in separate incidents in Delhi.

In 2014, 36,735 rapes were reported to the police, of which 2,096 were in the capital, according to the National Crime Records Bureau data. Campaigners say many more go unreported.

Indian Uber Driver Gets life in Jail for Rape

I hope they introduce or toughen jail terms for rapists in Thailand (and elsewhere too)

Whatever jokes/jibes I might say about women, I truly believe it's our duty (men's) to protect women from harm.. rape is a most heinous crime and should be treated by the justice system as such IMHO.

The inevitable civil lawsuit for money is what makes these criminal accusations so dangerous.

If they're going to put him away for life on her word she was raped, then the least they (and we) can do is remove any financial incentive for her to make such an accusation.

^ Absolutely correct. Innocent until proven guilty.