Angry over the gangrape of two teenaged girls in Kirari area in Outer Delhi, hundreds of women, along with Kirari Congress workers, gheraoed the police chowki and several other intersections of the area on Friday.
Recently, in the same area an eight-year-old girl was abducted and raped and body of a seven-year-old child, whose hands were tied behind his body and his throat slit, before he was allegedly sodomised by his killers, found.
"Our area has become safe haven for criminals. lack of police presence due to the fact that Kirari is the only constituency which doesn't even have a police station of its own is the reason why criminals roam here freely and slowly this area is becoming a centre for drug peddlers, liquor mafia, betting syndicate, hardened criminals. People living here have to walk at least 10 kilometers to Bhawana, where the Aman Vihar Police station for Kirari residents is located," said local Congress leader, Pratyush Kanth Kanth, who also participated in the protest.
"This is our second letter which we have submitted to police to be sent to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma for opening of a Police Station in the locality. The Police Headquarters is hopefully processing our request. An atmosphere of fear prevails in the whole area. There is just one police officer for every 4,100 residents. In contrast, the police public ratio for the rest of Delhi is 1:250," said Kanth.
The Congress leader said residents are upset with the Arvind Kejriwal Government as before the elections the Chief Minister had promised to install CCTV cameras in Kirari but till now only one has been installed.
"The installation of CCTV cameras is important to tackle increasing crime in the locality — an urbanised slum. Moreover, we only have a police chowki with very small police force to provide security to the residents.
“Hence, the presence of police on the streets of Kirari is almost negligible. look at the irony of the situation, in an area covering hardly 6 kilometers where people have small houses, more than 8 lakh people live here, yet, the Government doesn't think it is important for the residents to have a full-fledged police station,” said the Congress leader.
Other protesting residents too lamented about the deteriorating law and order situation in the locality, demanding strict action against criminals creating chaos in society.