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Indian Uber Driver Sentenced to Life for Rape

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A lawyer, center, speaks to reporters at the Tis Hazari Courts premises, after a court sentence for Uber driver Shiv Kumar Yadav in New Delhi on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. An Indian court sentenced Uber driver Yadav to life in prison Tuesday for raping a passenger in his vehicle last December.
A lawyer, center, speaks to reporters at the Tis Hazari Courts premises, after a court sentence for Uber driver Shiv Kumar Yadav in New Delhi on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. An Indian court sentenced Uber driver Yadav to life in prison Tuesday for raping a passenger in his vehicle last December.Tsering Topgyal—AP
By Denver Nicks

The Uber driver in India convicted of raping a passenger in December last year has been sentenced to life in prison.

Shiv Kumar Yadav was also found guilty of criminal intimidation and kidnapping.

“He will serve regressive imp—risonment, which shall mean imprisonment till natural death,” judge Kaveri Baweja said in the Delhi court.

Yadav’s assault on a 26-year-old woman sparked international outrage, prompting Delhi to ban Uber and other rideshare services for several months, amid rising awareness of the problem of rape in India. The number of reported rapes in India nearly doubled between 2004 and 2014, reports the BBC.

Yadav promised to appeal the ruling. “My client is innocent,” his attorney said.

[BBC]

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