Outer Delhi gets out of control in crime

The district of Outer Delhi seems to be slipping rapidly out of Delhi Police’s control — as far as women’s safety is concerned. Jatin Anand reports.

The district of Outer Delhi seems to be slipping rapidly out of Delhi Police’s control — as far as women’s safety is concerned.

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Take a look at this: Five women were attacked with surgical blades between November 12 and December 3. Then in the last five days alone, four crimes against women were reported from the area.

On Wednesday morning, a 20-year-old aerobics instructor was shot at by a jilted lover in Rohini. A 20-year-old final year engineering student was abducted on Tuesday morning and later molested by her former boyfriend in Prashant Vihar area. On Saturday night, four men abducted an 18-year-old girl and gangraped her in Sultanpuri, even though the area was swarming with police, — who were on the lookout of a slasher who attacked three women earlier in the evening.

"Criminals seem to be taking heart from the reportage of each such incident, emboldened by their recurrence and by the lack of certainty of punishment," said Rajat Mitra, a clinical psychologist, who counsels both victims and perpetrators of crime.

"Tuesday’s incident, in which the victim was abducted by her ex-boyfriend, and even the incident where the jilted lover shot the woman are peculiar cases, as far as intent is concerned. Our reaction time has increased with each case and we are confident," said a senior police officer from the district, asking he not be named.

However, the police insisted there was no way to prevent these "peculiar" attacks, as officers cannot police anyone’s behaviour. But they asserted that local officers were swift to react in both cases.