The latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) stated that two minor girls were raped every day last year in the national Capital, which was the most unsafe metropolitan city for women across the country. According to NCRB data, the city also recorded 13,892 cases of crimes against women in 2021, a significant surge of more than 40 per cent compared to 2020 when the figure was 9,782. The cases of crimes against women in Delhi accounted for 32.20 per cent of total crimes in the category among all 19 metropolitan cities, according to the NCRB data. Delhi was followed by the financial capital Mumbai, which saw 5,543 such instances, and Bengaluru with 3,127 cases. Mumbai and Bengaluru accounted for 12.76 per cent and 7.2 per cent of total crimes in 19 cities, respectively.
Delhi has also reported the highest number of cases of crimes against women in the categories related to cruelty by husbands (4,674) and girl child rapes (833) as compared to other metropolitan cities with over two million population in 2021. On average, over two girls were raped every day in Delhi in 2021, the data showed. Delhi registered 13,982 cases of crimes against women in 2021, while the total crimes in all 19 metropolitan cities were 43,414. The city registered 136 cases of dowry death in 2021, which is 36.26 per cent of total deaths due to the menace in 19 metropolitan cities.
The Capital also reported 3,948 cases of abduction of women, out of a total of 8,664 cases in all metropolitan cities and 2,022 cases of assault on women with the intent to outrage their modesty last year. There were 1,357 reported cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (girl child victims only) in 2021, the NCRB said. The NCRB data showed that Delhi recorded the highest number of kidnapping cases among the 19 metropolitan cities last year.
The city witnessed the highest number of kidnapping in 2020 at 5,475 as against 4,011 the previous year. The police managed to rescue 5,274 kidnapped people, including 3689 women.
Seventeen of the kidnapped people, including eight women, were found dead. Meanwhile, Delhi registered a marginal decline in the number of murder cases. It reported 454 cases of murder in 2021 as compared to 461 in 2020 and 500 in 2019, according to the report.
A majority of the murders in 2021 were the fallout of various disputes, including those related to property and family. In 23 cases, the bloodshed was due to a love affair gone wrong and 12 killings were over illicit relationships.
The motive behind 87 of these murders was personal vendetta or enmity, while 10 killings were due to personal gain. There was no murder in the national Capital last year due to dowry, witchcraft, child/human sacrifice and for communal, religious or caste reasons. During dacoity and robbery, the city witnessed 20 murders. As many as 177 murders were reported due to various disputes related to property, family and petty quarrels.
One of the high profile murders that made headlines last year was that of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, along with others, allegedly assaulted Dhankar and his friends at the Chhatrasal Stadium in May 2021 over an alleged property dispute. Dhankar later succumbed to his injuries.