The Indian capital banned ride-hailing service Uber on Monday after police arrested one of its drivers who allegedly raped a female passenger, the Associated Press reported.
Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, is accused of raping a 26-year-old finance company employee who hired him through the Uber app to take her home from an event Friday, according to the AP. The victim fell asleep during the ride and awoke to find the car parked in a secluded area, where Yadav allegedly threatened and raped her before taking her home.
New Delhi police Deputy Commissioner Madhur Verma confirmed to HuffPost India that Yadav was also accused of raping a female passenger in 2011 while working for another taxi service. Yadav served seven months in jail but was ultimately acquitted, Verma said.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick called the incident “horrific” and said the company would work with the Indian government to establish background checks that he said were “absent” in the country’s commercial transportation licensing programs.
“We will do everything, I repeat, everything to help bring this perpetrator to justice and to support the victim and her family in her recovery,” Kalanick said in a statement.
New Delhi’s ban on the service comes after Uber made headlines for its executives’ behavior. A senior executive recently suggested at a private dinner that the company dig up dirt on journalists, while the company’s general manager in New York City was disciplined for tracking a journalist’s rides without her permission.
This post has been updated.
