UPDATED 02:07 EDT / DECEMBER 08 2014

NEWS

Uber in trouble again as Indian driver allegedly rapes passenger

uberIndian police arrested an Uber driver Sunday who allegedly raped a passenger Friday night November 5th.

Local media says the driver attacked the 27-year-old woman, who works for a finance company, after she hired the cab in Gurgaon near Delhi.

The woman said in her complaint to local police that after getting into the car she fell asleep, subsequently waking up to find the car parked at a secluded spot where the driver then raped her. The driver then threatened to kill her if she spoke of the matter after dropping her near her home.

The woman took a photograph of the car’s number plate and contacted police.

Uber has gone on the defense over the allegations, writing in a blog post that “This is an abhorrent crime… Our thoughts remain with the victim who has shown tremendous courage under the circumstances” while claiming that “Safety is our #1 priority and in India.”

Developments though would indicate that Uber is not going to be able to walk away easily from the attack.

Rueters reported Indian Police have said that they would take legal action against Uber for failing to run background checks on driver, specifically checking whether he had a clean police record, and for the lack of a satellite location device in his car.

Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner with the Delhi police said that “every violation by Uber will be evaluated and we will go for legal recourse.”

This isn’t the first time Uber, which as we reported December 5th is now being valued at a staggering $41 billion, has been in trouble when it comes to its drivers, compliance with the law, and corporate culture. It even stumbles when it comes to data security, with its latest data breach coming December 3rd.

In fairness to Uber in this case, India has been called the “rape capital of the world.” That said, it comes as more bad publicity for a company that boasts that it double checks its drivers to make sure they offer a superior service.


A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU