Uber driver jailed for life after raping female passenger in India

Shiv Kumar Yadav was convicted of rape, kidnapping and criminal intimidation

An Uber driver in India has been jailed for life after a court found him guilty of attacking and raping one of his female passengers last year.

A court found Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, guilty of the maximum available sentence after he was convicted last month of the rape, kidnapping and criminal intimidation of a 25-year-old female business executive who used his taxi to return from a party on 3 December last year.

In a 99-page judgement, it was claimed the case reminded jurors of the horrific New Delhi rape case in 2012 after Yadav allegedly threatened to insert an iron rod into the woman’s body.

Jyoti Singh Pandey was brutally gang-raped, with her attackers inserting an iron rod into her body causing internal injuries that would later claim her life. Her death provoked a storm of international interest and a discussion over women’s rights in India.

In court in Delhi on Tuesday, Yadav’s wife and two daughters heard New Delhi police had sought the maximum sentence due to the gravity of the case.

Atul Shrivastava, the special public prosecutor appointed to the case, added that a strong message needed to be sent to society by awarding to the maximum sentence.

The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that life terms run until the convict dies, throwing out an argument – used in some other nations – whereby ‘life imprisonment’ often means a finite period of years.