One-year jail for road rage: Biker sent to jail for hitting cabbie with helmet near Kemps Corner
The court also levied a fine of Rs 10,000 on the biker, out of which Rs 5,000 will have to be paid to the cab driver as compensation (Representational Image, Courtesy: Hpssociety.info)
To curb the growing menace of ‘road rage’ in the city, a magistrate made an example out of a Kandivali businessman by sentencing him to one-year imprisonment for attacking a taxi driver with his helmet.
The magistrate refused to let off Alpesh Gandhi, who had voluntarily assaulted the taxi driver near Kemps Corner in 2015, without a sentence.
“The accused has committed the act voluntarily. The message has to be delivered that whatever the circumstances, no one is entitled to take the law into one’s own hands. It is necessary to give a deterrent sentence,” the Times of India quoted the magistrate as saying.
The court also levied a fine of Rs 10,000 on the 38-year-old, of which Rs 5,000 will have to be paid to the cab driver as compensation.
The cabbie, Surendranath Dubey, told the court that he was on his way home on February 24, 2015 when the accused suddenly came in front of his taxi. Although he managed to stop the vehicle on time, the rider got angry and charged towards him.
Dubey alleged that Gandhi got down from his bike with helmet in hand and hit him in the face with it. The assault left him with two broken front teeth, an injured jaw and a bleeding lip.
The rider was booked after Dubey approached nearby Gamdevi police and registered a complaint against him.
The accused, meanwhile, told the court that the driver had hit him with his car and left him injured. He also alleged that cops had booked him instead of the driver at the behest of the taxi union.
The court found the victim’s statement consistent with that of the medical officer and investigation officer, both of whom were deposed as prosecution witnesses. The statement was also corroborated by the medical evidence.
