India police arrest driver over rape charge

New Delhi : Police in New Delhi said Friday they have arrested a driver for allegedly raping a woman in his car, as the Indian capital marks the fourth anniversary of the fatal gang-rape of a student.

The woman told police that she was waiting for a bus on Wednesday night when the man offered her a lift and she got into his car.

"We have recorded her statement. She has told us that the driver raped her in his car," Rekha, the police officer handling the case, told AFP.

"We have arrested the driver," said the officer, who goes by only one name, adding that police have launched an investigation into the case and seized the car.

Rekha said the suspect was a driver for a member of India's elite paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force.

The driver reportedly later abandoned the vehicle and fled to a friend's house where the police arrested him Thursday morning.

He will be produced in court later Friday -- four years to the day since a student was gang-raped on a moving bus in an incident that unleashed global outrage about attacks on women in India.

The incident sparked mass street protests in Delhi and led to tougher laws against rapists and other sexual offenders.

Authorities promised speedier trials and increased punishments for offenders, but high levels of sexual violence against women continue and cases are often slow to come to court.

Official figures show 2,199 rapes were reported in Delhi in 2015, up from 706 in 2012, although police attribute the rise to more people coming forward.

Activists say the true number is likely much higher because of the social stigma attached to sexual crimes.