Court defers hearing in Uber cabdriver rape case

New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) A court here Friday posted the case against the Uber taxi company driver accused of raping a 27-year-old working woman in the capital for Jan 5 after police took the palm prints of the accused.

Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Kumar Malik posted the next hearing to Friday for considering the charge sheet filed in the case and directed Delhi Police to supply relevant documents to accused, Shiv Kumar Yadav.

Meanwhile, the court allowed police to take the palm prints of the accused after police told the court that these are required to match with the prints found in the cab during the probe.

It added that the fingerprint of the accused was matched with the prints but his palm print was not taken.

Meanwhile defence counsel Alok Dwivedi requested the court to direct police to supply him 10 photographs and six printouts of map that was filed with charge sheet.

The court directed police to supply documents to Yadav's counsel and it extended the accused's judicial custody to Jan 5.

Yadav, 32, allegedly committed the rape on the night of Dec 5, when the woman, who works for a finance company in Gurgaon, was heading back home in north Delhi's Inderlok area.

The charge sheet was filed Dec 24, after 29 days of the incident under sections 376 (rape), 366 (kidnapping or abducting woman with an intent to compel her for marriage), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

In the over 100-page charge sheet, police cited 44 prosecution witnesses in support of its case. Police also relied on forensic evidence and placed on record the route map of the car in which the offence was committed.