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70% rape accused are repeat offenders: Study

Hindustan Times | ByVijaita Singh, New Delhi
Dec 03, 2010 12:05 AM IST

For one of the two arrested men in the Dhaula Kuan gangrape case it wasn't his first time committing such a heinous crime. The police had arrested him in another gangrape case in 2007 that was reported from Faridabad. A study of those arrested on sexual assault charges has revealed that a whopping 70% accused are repeat offenders. Vijaita Singh reports.

For one of the two arrested men in the Dhaula Kuan gangrape case it wasn't his first time committing such a heinous crime.

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The police had arrested him in another gangrape case in 2007 that was reported from Faridabad. He was out on bail when he got involved in the Dhaula Kuan rape and was later arrested.

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A study of those arrested on sexual assault charges has revealed that a whopping 70% accused are repeat offenders.

So, to crack the Dhaula Kuan rape case of a 30-year-old BPO employee, the police went back to and analysed 105 similar cases of gangrape reported in and around the national capital in the past one year.

"During our various studies, including the one conducted at Tihar Jail, we came out with the statistic of 70% accused being repeat offenders," said Rajat Mitra, director, Swarnchetan, an NGO that deals with rape crisis cases.

To crack the Dhaula Kuan gangrape case, the police analysed 105 past rape cases with similar modus operandi and checked the location and movement of the offenders arrested for those crimes.

"Criminals who were involved in crimes of similar nature in the past but were out on bail were interrogated. We also collected data of sexual offenders from four jails —Bhondsi and Rohtak in Haryana, Dasna Jai in Uttar Pradesh and Tihar jail in Delhi," said BK Gupta, commissioner of police, Delhi.

He said the police teams also analysed distress calls made to the police control room (PCR) by women in the past three years.

"Most of the victims we have examined have told us that the offender(s) had a certain level of confidence when he/they attacked the women. Our study has found that at no point of time do these repeat offenders hesitate to strike," said Mitra.

The Delhi police chief said they have started keeping a tab on people who are released from jail after serving their sentence.

"The information on these hardcore criminals, who are out of prison after serving their sentences, is passed on to the local police who can swiftly take action when needed," said Gupta.

Timeline of the night of crime
The way the events unfolded on November 24:
Midnight: The victim finishes her shift at the BPO company.
12:30 am: She takes the officer drop cab along with her colleague. Both are residents of Dhaula Kuan area.
1:10 am: The victim and her colleague get down on the Ring Road.
1:11 am: As soon as they start walking towards their house, three of the accused pounce on the two women. While her friend manages to escape, the men abduct the woman at gun-point.
1:15 am: The victim is repeatedly raped by the five accused in the Mahindra pick-up truck while they drive through Ring Road and other arterial roads.
1:20 am: The friend calls the police and the PCR. With limited information, the police start their search.
2:06 am: The victim is finally dumped by the accused. She informs the police about her location in Mongolpuri.

Some important questions
*Where is the weapon that was allegedly used by the gang to intimidate the victim?
*The police said the accused took narrow lanes to reach Mongolpuri, where the BPO employee was gangraped and dumped. When asked, to identify such lanes, the police said Ridge Road and Ring Road.
*Why weren't barricades and checkpoints put up along the route, which by the police's own admission is frequented by criminals belonging to Mewat region in Haryana?
*Why has no action been initiated against the call center?
*Why did the Delhi Police not inform their counterparts in Haryana about the operation?

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