New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday strongly condemned the sexual assault on a young woman by a taxi driver in the capital last week and said all necessary steps will be taken to bring the attacker to justice.
Making a statement in the Lok Sabha over the incident, Rajnath Singh termed it a "dastardly act" and an extremely unfortunate incident.
"The government of India strongly condemns this dastardly act. It will be ensured that all necessary steps are taken to bring the offender to justice," he said.
The home minister informed parliament that the 25-year-old woman hired a taxi through the online cab service Uber around 10.30 p.m. Friday from Delhi's Vasant Vihar to Inder Lok area.
The woman works in Gurgaon and had come to Vasant Vihar with some friends after her office hours, he said.
The minister said the woman reported that while sitting in the taxi, she dozed off for a while and suddenly realised that the taxi was parked at an isolated place and the driver was trying to molest her in the back seat.
He said when the woman tried to raise an alarm, the driver threatened her of physical injury and sexually assaulted her. After committing the crime, the driver dropped her near her home around 1 a.m., threatening her again against disclosing the incident to anyone.
The minister told the house that a case was registered soon after information was received by police and teams were formed to identify and locate the culprit.
The woman was sent for medical examination and she was also counselled by an NGO volunteer authorised by the Delhi Commission for Women.
He said the culprit driver was arrested from Mathura Sunday after painstaking investigation and the vehicle owned by him, registered with Uber cab service, has been brought to Delhi where it will be subjected to a thorough forensic examination.
The taxi driver will be presented before the court in Delhi Monday, the minister added.
