New Delhi: Shiv Kumar Yadav, the Uber cab driver accused of raping a 25-year-old woman in his vehicle on Monday threatened mediapersons inside a Delhi court soon after the proceeding was over, even as he alleged that a "sham" trial was being conducted in the case.
The moment the judge left the court room, Yadav threatened to assault mediapersons present there, saying the next time he saw them, he would beat them up with a chair.
During the proceedings, he made fresh allegations that he was not being properly represented, which stalled the commencement of recording of evidence in his defence.
The alleged rapist said he was changing his advocate as he was not being represented properly for fair trial and his case was being argued more like that of prosecution than that defence.
The accused raised the issue in the presence of his wife before Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja, who allowed advocate Dharmender Kumar Mishra to take charge of the case from Aalok Dwivedi, who was so far representing Yadav.
Mishra started by saying "It seems from the evidence as if the accused was prosecution himself. I will not rush to the gun, I cannot do anything in 10 minutes. I need one week's time to go through the file".
"Yadav was not represented properly. I want to ensure him a fair trial. From the evidence recorded so far, I am saying its a sham trial," the new counsel said, adding that he wanted to see if the accused was getting a fair trial.
The judge asked the advocate not to use the words "sham trial" again and again and ensure that Yadav was given a fair trial in the case. The court granted two days to the new defence counsel and fixed the hearing on February 11.
Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava told the court that the accused and his counsel were trying to delay trial. The earlier advocate was engaged by Yadav himself, so the court or prosecution was not at a fault, he added.
During the hearing, 32-year-old Yadav also alleged in the court that he was being attacked by inmates in the jail due to media's misreporting on the case.
After the judge left the court room, Yadav shouted "media is writing against me and also giving wrong news. This is the reason I am being attacked in the jail. I am telling you I will beat them (reporters), I will not spare them".
"Next time if I see them in court, I will assault them with a chair," Yadav said in the court room, in the presence of prosecutor, Delhi Police officials, court staff, advocates and mediapersons. He was pacified by his counsel and taken out of the court room in police escort.
The case is presently at the stage of recording defence evidence with the court earlier allowing Yadav to examine himself as a witness in his defence.
He had earlier informed the court that he has dropped his wife as a defence witness in the case.
The court had dismissed another plea of Yadav seeking to recall the victim and her friend, who had already testified before it as prosecution witnesses, and to summon CCTV footage of the place from where the woman had boarded Yadav's cab on the night of December 5, 2014.
Yadav's counsel had alleged that it was a planned case which had been lodged to earn money as the woman had filed a suit in the US against Uber claiming that the company had failed to maintain basic safety procedures.
The court has already recorded statements of 28 prosecution witnesses including the victim who had identified Yadav as the one who had raped her.
It has also recorded the testimony of the accused in which he termed the charge against him as "false" and said he had also not threatened to insert a rod, like the December 16, 2012 gang-rape incident.
The prosecution has completed recording of evidence in the case as part of the fast-track trial in just 17 days. The court had framed charges in the case on January 13 and the trial commenced on January 15.
The court has framed charges against Yadav under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for alleged offences of endangering a woman's life while raping her, kidnapping with an intent to compel her for marriage, criminally intimidating and causing hurt.
