New Delhi: On September 14, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released its annual statistics on crimes in India in 2020, which showed that in comparison to other metropolitan cities, Delhi remained the most unsafe city for women.
While crimes against women have remained an area of concern for the Delhi Police, an analysis of the rape cases registered between 2016 and 2021 (till November 15) shows that the involvement of 'strangers' in such cases has been decreasing every
New Delhi: On September 14, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released its annual statistics on crimes in India in 2020, which showed that in comparison to other metropolitan cities, Delhi remained the most unsafe city for women.
While crimes against women have remained an area of concern for the Delhi Police, an analysis of the rape cases registered between 2016 and 2021 (till November 15) shows that the involvement of 'strangers' in such cases has been decreasing every passing year since 2016.
Data shared by the Delhi Police till November 15 says that the involvement of strangers in rape cases has come down to 1.17% in 2021 from the 3.57% that was reported in 2016. What is notable here is the fact that although rape cases in 2020 till November 15 was nearly 16% less than the cases reported during the same period in 2021, the involvement of unknown persons in rape cases was higher in 2020 as compared to the corresponding period of 2021.
In 2020 when the city reported 1497 cases of rape, the involvement of strangers in such cases was 1.77%. This figure came down to 1.17% till November 15 in 2021, even as the number of rape cases increased to 1788. In numbers, of the 1788 rape cases, only 21 were committed by strangers while in 2020 this number was 26.
Police data reveals that in 46% or 818 cases of the total rape cases reported in 2021, the alleged accused were either friends or their family's friends. The involvement of neighbours was 11.47%, which is 205 of the 1788 cases, whereas in 246 cases (14%) the alleged sexual exploiters were relatives. A total of 16 rape cases were committed by employers or co-workers while in 482 cases, the alleged accused were known to the victims, police statistics show.
The other aspect of the data analysis is that of the 1788 rape cases, nearly 23% or 413 cases were registered on account of a “live-in relationship” of “refusal for marriage”. Senior police officers associated with the analysis say that the number of complaints of rape under this category has been increasing since modifications in the rape laws after the December 16, 2012 gangrape case encouraged women to speak up and file cases.
“Many such complaints or cases were withdrawn after the men named in them agreed to marry the women or resolve their differences outside court. Motivated complaints or those lodged with intent to extort money is one misuse of the new rape laws. Actions as per law have been taken against many women for filing such complaints or cases,” said a senior police officer, who asked not to be named.
Proactive measures, visible policing key reasons: Cops
Many senior Delhi Police officers, both on and off the record, attributed this declining trend of the involvement of strangers in rapes, to the various women safety measures that the city police have taken since the barbaric gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old woman in a moving bus on December 16, 2012 that shook the entire nation and led the government to make the rape laws more stringent. They also claimed that steps taken to increase visibility of police personnel on streets and make public places safer for women by installing CCTV cameras and improving lightings also work as deterrents against sexual predators who look for soft targets.
Special commissioner of police (crime) Devesh Chandra Srivastava said that in the recent years the city police have laid an emphasis on increasing the deployment of women personnel in patrolling vans and two-wheelers, apart from their presence in police stations dedicatedly to handle complaints or cases related to crimes against women.
“We now have 24x7 women help desks in all police stations. Women related cases, especially rape, are handled only by women investigators. Investigations of rape cases are done in a time-bound manner and chargesheets are filed at the earliest, in some cases between 20 and 30 days of the arrest. There is a zero-tolerance policy in case of women related complaints,” said Srivastava.
Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal also cited initiatives taken by the Delhi Police including "Shashakti", a scheme under which women and girls are given self-defence training in schools, colleges, and other places. A dedicated women's safety mobile application named “Himmat-Plus” is also available for women in distress, he said.
“Apart from all-women patrolling vans, we (Delhi Police) now have pink police booths that are run only by women personnel. The idea is to give women a safer and friendly environment where they can express their grievances freely, without any fear or shame. Special deployment of women police staff is done near girls’ schools and colleges. More such steps are being taken to make women safer on public places,” added Biswal.
At the time of the December 16 gangrape case, the presence of women personnel in Delhi Police was around 8%. But after the central government announced 33% reservation for women in government jobs, the participation of women cops in the city police is nearly 13%, officers said.
Experts say stricter rape laws have helped
Although experts take the police measures into consideration, they opine that the provision of harsher punishments to accused in rape cases is the prime reason behind the decline in the involvement of strangers in rape cases reported in the last five-six years. Increase in video surveillance at public places in the form of CCTV cameras is another key factor behind that, as it creates a sense of fear among strangers that they will be identified and arrested for their crimes, said retired assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Rajender Singh, who was instrumental in solving the December 2016 gangrape case.
“Earlier, the rape laws were not as stringent as they are now. But these days, crime against women are taken seriously and investigated in a more professional manner to take the cases to their logical conclusion. The hanging of all the adult accused in the December 16 gangrape case sent a strong message that perpetrators of such crimes will not be spared. Death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years of age is another factor,” said Singh.
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