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Uber driver held in India over rape allegations after woman reports assault in Delhi
Controversial ride hire service Uber was back in the spotlight yesterday after Indian police arrested an Uber cab driver suspected of raping a female passenger and said they would take legal action against Uber for failing to run background checks on him.
Police opened an investigation after a 26-year-old woman reported that she had been sexually assaulted and beaten later on Friday evening after hailing a ride home with the Uber driver in south Delhi.
The suspect will be brought before a New Delhi court today, according to the Delhi police deputy commissioner Madhur Verma.
Verma said the police would take legal action against Uber for violations including a failure to check whether the driver, named as Shiv Kumar Yadav, had a clean police record and the lack of a satellite location device in his car.
Uber has faced critical news coverage over comments by a US executive who suggested “digging up dirt” on journalists investigating the firm. That has not stopped the San Francisco-based firm from raising investment that values it at $40bn (£25.6bn), reflecting the potential of its expansion into high-growth markets like India.
Uber said in a statement yesterday that it had suspended the driver. “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,” said Uber.