New Delhi: Medical and forensic evidence have corroborated the woman’s testimony that she was raped by the Uber cab driver who had also tried to force her into unnatural sex, Delhi Police told a city court here today. Continuing final arguments, the prosecutor representing the police submitted that there was ample evidence to show that the 25-year-old woman was not a consenting party to the sexual acts of 32-year-old Shiv Kumar Yadav as several injuries were found on her body.
“The oral testimony of the woman regarding her injuries finds corroboration with medical evidence. The accused had raped her and also tried to commit unnatural sex with her. “The forensic expert has also said in his testimony that on examining the forensic samples of the accused and the victim, it was found that the driver had tried to commit unnatural sex with her,” Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava told Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja.
The prosecutor said that Yadav has “miserably failed” to bring anything against the forensic evidence. He argued that the doctors who had examined the victim after the incident also testified that she was raped and there was an attempt to strangulate her.”There is sufficient evidence on record to convict Yadav for charges framed against him. Prosecution has been able to prove charges for the offences of Sections 376(2)(m), 366, 506 and 323 of the IPC. None of the witnesses have turned hostile,” Shrivastava said while concluding the prosecution’s final arguments.
The court has fixed the case for tomorrow for hearing final arguments of the counsel for the accused. The court on January 13 had framed charges against Yadav under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for alleged offences of endangering a woman’s life while raping her, abducting with an intent to compel her for marriage, criminally intimidating and causing hurt.
If convicted in the case, Yadav faces a maximum of life imprisonment as punishment. During arguments regarding Yadav’s claim that the evidence was planted and fabricated by the police, the prosecutor said the onus was on the accused to prove that evidence was planted. Regarding the aspect of delay in reporting the incident to the police, the prosecutor said the moment the woman got herself freed from the clutches of the accused and deboarded the cab, she immediately called police even without consulting or informing her parents.
“If there is delay in reporting the matter, court will ask 100 questions from the prosecution to explain the delay. “But, here in this case, there was no delay and it is an additional support to the prosecution’s case and there was no chance of tutoring the witness/victim,” he said.
The prosecutor had earlier argued that an accused can be convicted on the basis of sole testimony of the victim if it is trustworthy. He had referred to the victim’s deposition that Yadav had slapped her several times and pressed her neck. The trial in the case had commenced on January 15 and the prosecution concluded recording its evidence in 17 days by examining 28 witnesses. The accused had not examined any witness in his defence.
During recording of her statement in the court, the victim had identified Yadav as the one who had raped her. The court had also recorded the testimony of the accused in which he termed the charge against him as “false”.
