Crimes against women on the rise in the national capital

Crimes against women in the national capital do not seem to be going down, even after stringent laws were brought in following the horrific Nirbhaya incident that shocked the world.

Over 20,000 cases of crimes against women have been reported in just five police districts out of the 11 in the past two years. Among these, over 2,000 cases of rape have been reported in these districts, according to an RTI (Right to Information) reply received by The Sunday Guardian.

The South District, which comprises the upmarket localities of the national capital like Vasant Vihar, Vasant Kunj, Safdarjung Enclave, Malviya Nagar, Mehrauli, etc, has reported the maximum number of crimes against women, with over 8,500 cases being registered between 2014-2016 in this district, followed by the West District which registered over 4,500 cases in the same period, according to the RTI reply.

Among the 8,593 cases of crime against women in the South District, around 500 cases of rape have been registered here during 2015-2016, while West District also registered around 500 cases of rape during the same period.

A detailed study of the RTI reply also reveals that over 2,000 cases of rape have been reported across the five districts in the past two years, while molestation has been the largest of reported cases by women in the city. Molestation and stalking alone account for 40% of the cases that woman of Delhi face every day on the streets.

Over 10,000 cases of molestation of women under IPC Sections 294, 354, 354-D, 509—which include outraging a woman’s modesty, stalking, eve teasing etc.—have been registered in these districts in the past three years. A further look at the RTI reply received also shows an increasing trend in the number of cases of molestation of women in the National Capital.

Ranjana Kumari, advocate and director of Centre for Social Research, told The Sunday Guardian, “Laws would only act as deterrents when justice delivery is prompt and swift. Thousands of cases are pending in the courts across the country and this is why nobody fears the law. These data reveals the story of women’s safety in Delhi where crimes against women are  increasing. Yet, the Delhi government and the Central government have failed to ensure the safety of women.”

Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi told The Sunday Guardian: “It has been four years since the Nirbhaya incident, yet nothing has changed in this country. Women continue to be raped and harassed on the streets of this country and this is because the law is not being implemented in its spirit by the enforcement agencies, nor are the courts setting any examples. Thus, men take the law for granted. Fast track judgements and effective and stringent enforcement is the only answer to cause a deterrent.”

However, police sources say that the number of crimes against women is increasing not because of the increasing crime rate in Delhi, but because of the consciousness of women who come out in the open to report crimes against them. “It is the reporting of crimes against women that has increased and not the crimes per say,” a police official said.

However, contesting the claim of the police, Ranjana Kumari said, “This huge figure shows that the crime exists, which is why it is being reported. The government needs to have an institutional mechanism to address the problem of women’s safety through effective implementation of the law and speedy justice system for the victims.” Not only have cases of molestation and rape been reported in Delhi in the past two years, but cases of dowry and dowry deaths are also increasingly being reported in the capital. Over 1,500 cases of dowry under Section 498A/406 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) has been reported from across these districts in the past two years, with the highest number of cases reported from the North-East and West Districts, the RTI reveals.