New Delhi has been pegged as the most unsafe city in the country by females and the data doesn¡¯t say otherwise.?
According to the data released by the Delhi Police, five women were raped and eight were molested daily on an average in the national capital. The data revealed that 2,043 cases of rapes were registered last year as compared to 2,059 cases the year before that and 2,065 cases in 2016.
Last year, 3,175 cases of molestation were reported as compared to 3,275 cases the year before and 4,032 cases in 2016.
In most of the rape cases, the accused were known to the victim ¨C including? brother, father, grandfather, sons and acquaintances.
Also Read: Why Is India Unable To Control Alarming Number Of Rape Cases
According to data by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a government agency that collects and analyses crime data across India, in more than 94 per cent cases of rapes of women, the offender was known to the victim ¡ª he was either a close family member, a neighbour, or an acquaintance.?
Girls and women are more vulnerable to their own relatives and acquaintances than unknown persons on the issue of sex-related crimes, said NCRB¡¯s ¡®Crime In India 2016¡¯ report.
NCRB data also says that Delhi is one of the least safe places for women in the country.
According to Delhi Police analysis, 43 per cent of the accused in rape cases were either friends or family friends, 16.25 per cent were neighbours, 12.04 per cent were relatives, 2.89 per cent were co-workers, 22.86 per cent were other known persons.
The Delhi Police data showed that merely 2.5 per cent of the accused were not known to the victim, a decline from the previous years.
In 2017 and 2016, strangers comprised 3.36 and 3.57 per cent of those arrested for rape.
Requests have been made to the government to improve connectivity and installation of lights on dark stretches, including self-defence as part of school curriculum.
Delhi Police is holding initiatives like Sashakti, a self-defence programme for women/girls; operation Nirbheek, where female police officers engage with girl students at school. Another programme is ¡®Police Uncle¡¯ wherein police personnel teach children to not fear the police.
AFP
Recently, Delhi Police entered the Limca Book of Records by training more than two lakh women and girls under the self-defence programme.?
However, safety of women continues to remain a cause of concern. In January 2018, an-month-old infant girl was hospitalised after being raped by a relative, who was later taken into custody.
On the sixth anniversary of the Nirbhaya gangrape case that left India reeling, a three-year-old girl was raped by a neighbour and left in critical condition.