The Uber rape case

-
Another horrifying rape story- A girl in Delhi was raped by an Uber cab driver named Shiv Kumar Yadav. Unlike the December 16 case, Delhi police investigated the case without any time lapse and took the driver to custody. The Delhi police also filed an FIR against Uber for not carrying out its driver’s background verification and not obtaining PSV badges. Uber, the US based cab service company is at fault for not adhering to the statutory requirements of India. ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’ is one lesson which the global cab company has to learn.  

Today, two weeks after the incident, the focus of the case has shifted from the rapist to the cab company. Will justice be served in the right manner? There are multiple pressing issues that has been completely neglected. What about conviction? The accused has not been punished, yet we are here fighting to get the cab company’s license revoked. For a heinous crime such as rape, the accused has to be pronounced with a severe punishment. If every action has an equal and opposite reaction, why doesn’t it apply to crime and punishment as well? The driver was already accused of raping a women last year, however was sent out of the jail on bail. He was also accused in multiple instances for various offences including robbery, molestation and possessing an unlicensed firearm. Despite all these crimes, he was set free. Doesn’t this show laxity in part of the legal system? If proper justice was served, he would have been inside bars and the girl would have never been raped.

 During investigation, the police found out that a 'character certificate' with the signature of an Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) was issued to the driver this August stating he was not involved in any criminal case. The document was clearly forged. This issue throws light to the fact that crimes can be camouflaged easily through a forged certificate.  We are advocating to get background checks of the drivers done, but how do we ensure validity of such checks? Unlike the US, there is no central repository of criminal records in India. Isn’t this something that the government should take as a matter of priority? Mere background checks will never serve its purpose unless there is a formalized system of ensuring its validity.

 One of my friend made a statement ‘The general tendency of the people is to oppose things which they don’t understand’, which I think is happening in the Uber rape case.  It’s easy to blame a cab company and get faster results (in terms of suspension or revoking the license) rather than trying to look into the root cause of the issue. Uber cannot be held responsible for all the other incompetency that exists in our system. Yes, police verification has to be done but at the same time, we cannot overlook into the more serious concerns that this case has raised. If Uber and several cab companies has to be suspended, why not also suspend the legislative system for accepting bail to a repetitive offender? Shouldn’t punishment be served to a person and not to the entire institution? We can just hope and pray that these concerned will be adressed in a right manner.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

True Love!

-
Image
The other day, I invited some of my girlfriends for a night stay. As all young girls, all we did was talk, that too for hours. We talked about our job (which was all about a new hot girl in office and the threat that followed), life (that it sucked), food (about a new mobile app for calculating calories in foods), music and movies (who wore the worst dress at the oscars) and guys (which was about 90% of what we talked). After a few glasses of beer, we started talking about a vague topic - ‘love’. We struggled to get into a conclusion what love actually is.  After midnight, we finally agreed that ‘ love is something, the feeling of which is unexplainable and the lovers clueless '. As a 16 year old girl, love for me was a romantic flick like ‘You’ve got mail’ or ‘Preety Woman’ where two perfect individual meet, have their differences in the beginning which they sort out and eventually lead a perfect happy life. But now, I feel of having I lapse of judgment then. All these ro
Read more

Believe

-
Image
When I look back at my life, there’s not a single moment that I would change. I don’t wanna jinx it by saying, but I am in love with my life.  Did I have a fairy tale story? –No. Was my life perfect?? -Indeed not. Like everyone else, I had my share of pain. I failed a number of times.  I failed to get through the medical college although my only persistent dream since childhood was to be a paediatrician (Short term dreams included marrying a Spanish Guy, being the next Jodie Foster after watching Silence of the lambs or being adopted by Bill and Melinda) To see my only dream get shattered was like being judged and told that ‘You are not good enough’.  It echoed in my ears for so long that sometimes it was hard to hear anything else.  I failed in my CA finals too (However, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a saying- If Jesus has never failed; he must try CA). I have failed in numerous assignments at work.  I have failed to meet the expectations of many people. There were times when
Read more

Life in 3D

-
Image
 Life's a riddle. When we complete sorting out the troubles in life, we are struck with other new problems. On the other hand, when we lose hope and are ready to give up, life shows new opportunities and new hopes. It surely acts in a mysterious way. I happen to remember a quote from one of my favourite movies -The forrest Gump,'life's like a box of chocolates,you never know what you're gonna get', which is infact very true. May be this is what makes life worth living,worth fighting and worth surviving.        So, it's a mere waste of time if you are crying over life for not being as planned. Remember, Life has not promised to be any different than what it is now. May be its simply about living each day, each hour and each moment. So, what the hell!!  Make mistakes, laugh at it, life's not fair, accept it, fall down, rise again, face the fearful, fall in love, stand for yourself, be stupid, dance in the rain, make a fool out of yourself, cry your h
Read more