Reacting to the revelation that the cab driver accused of raping a woman passenger had earlier committed a similar crime, former National Commission for Women chairperson Mamata Sharma on Monday said that the judiciary should not grant bail to people convicted in heinous crimes so easily and that tough and concrete steps were needed to deal with such cases.

"The matter has come to light today that the accused had earlier committed a similar crime but was granted bail later after getting convicted. The police should keep an eye on such people. The court also has to be extremely sensitive about such cases. If it grants bail to such people easily, the crime rate will never go down. The judiciary needs to take a tough and concrete step on this case," said Sharma.

According to reports, the Uber Cab driver accused of raping a 27-year-old woman on Friday, had been convicted for a similar crime in 2011 and had spent over seven months in prison. However, he was later granted bail.

A case had reportedly been registered under Sections 376 ( rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Sarai Rohilla police station and the accused was arrested last evening.

(dna)