India court sentences Uber driver to life in prison for rape

An Indian court has sentenced an Uber driver to life in prison for raping a passenger in his vehicle in New Delhi last year in a case that once again highlighted the issue of sexual violence against women in India and marred the reputation of the popular ridesharing service.  

Driver Shiv Kumar Yadav received the maximum sentence after he was found guilty last month of the rape, kidnapping and criminal intimidation of the woman, who had hailed a ride home from a party in Delhi last December.

Yadav got his job with Uber with fake references, enabling him to hide his criminal record.

"Keeping in view the facts and evidences in the case, I sentence Shiv Kumar Yadav, to rigorous life imprisonment," Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja told the court.

Authorities fast-tracked Yadav's trial to meet the public's demand for swift justice.

"We are happy that justice has been delivered and that the process didn't take that long," said Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner with the Delhi police.

The victim, a woman working for an international consulting firm, fell asleep on the way home. Yadav then drove to a secluded place and raped her. Yadav's lawyer, D.K. Mishra, said he would appeal against the sentence in a higher court.

"My client is innocent," he told reporters after the sentence was passed.

The rape case revived memories of the horrific rape and murder on a moving bus of a young physiotherapist in Delhi in 2012, which became the subject of a BBC documentary that was banned by the Indian government this year. 

The incident was also blow to Uber, the San Francisco-based company that has attracted global popularity and controversy with a service that lets passengers summon cars through an app in more than 250 cities around the world.

The New Delhi government banned app-based taxi companies after the rape. Uber, which introduced safety measures and tightened driver checks after the incident, lost its license to operate in the Indian capital, but it was restored in July. 

Last month, the federal government released guidelines to regulate online taxi companies, saying they should do stringent security checks and not contract anyone convicted of a "cognizable offense," which include crimes like rape and murder, under India's criminal laws. 

Al Jazeera and wire services