JOIN USUndoubtedly, Uber deserves much of the flak it got after a young woman was raped by the driver of this app-based taxi aggregator in Delhi
recently. If nothing else, the service created a false sense of security among women travelling late at night.
But then, the attempts by the Delhi Police to blame everyone but themselves for the rape or for that matter, most of the crimes heaped on the people of the Union capital, just cannot be glossed over. After the knee-jerk reaction by the police to ban the cab aggregator for
the rape, they now say the rape accused, Shiv Kumar Yadav, is a “psychotic criminal” and a “master of lies” who by his own admission had targeted more passengers in the past.
It is strange that instead of accepting their failure in allowing the alleged serial rapist to run riot in the capital despite several cases slapped against him, the police are attempting to divert the issue. The Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi should accept failure of the city police in arresting shameful recurrence of rapes in the city. It is also the responsibility of Delhi LieutenantGovernor Najeeb Jung, in the absence of an elected government, to ensure tightening of the police administration and make it an ever-alert force. The onus lies on the Delhi Police in particular and the Jung-led government in general to ensure that crimes that make not just Delhiites but the people of the country hang their heads in shame, does not take place.
The transport department and its enforcing arm of sorts, the Delhi Police, are unable to implement the rules which are supposed to make taxis and autos safer. On paper, a regulatory mechanism is in place. A case in point is the police verification the cab driver – connected with ‘booking services’ like Uber – gets before he obtains his own public service vehicle (PSV) badge.
The transport department has been taking some shortcuts here. Instead of physical verifications like finding out if an applicant actually lives at his supposed address, the department, of late, has been relying on certificates from gazetted officers. Character certificates are easy to get and the alleged Uber rapist, with a history that included other rape cases, had got a fake one through a finance company agent.
The PSV badges are a must on paper alone and many auto drivers ply without them. There is thus a need for the Delhi Police to own up their shortcomings and for the government to tighten certification procedures.