If the gruesome gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in the Capital last year exposed how vulnerable women in the city are, the latest figures of crimes against women available with Delhi Police paint a very grim picture indeed.
Delhi Police figures reveal that in this year alone (till October 15), 1,330 cases of rape, 2,844 cases of molestation, 793 cases of eve-teasing and 2,906 cases of abduction of women were registered.
The statistics produced before the Supreme Court (SC) by the police indicate that crimes under certain heads showed a three to five-fold jump over the past five years.
Delhi Police claimed that its records had improved as all police stations were instructed to record each and every crime against women. According to police records, incidents of rape marked a three-fold rise while cases of molestation increased five-fold. Kidnapping cases nearly doubled and eve-teasing registered close to 300 per cent rise. Cases of dowry harassment jumped from 1,297 (in 2009) to 2,487 this year.
The bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi wondered why the protests in the aftermath of the December 16 gang-rape had to occur in the first place.“It (protests) has not happened in the last two or three years. Why are people losing confidenceIJ” asked the bench.
“Women have been victims yet they suffered silently. It is only when a few cases were taken up that these protests start,” it added, explaining how the figures of crime against women increased over the last five years.
“Every day hundreds of girls are subjected to sexual assault and molestation. Only for the last five years there have been some protests. They want protection from the State. They protest as they feel they are not getting their due,” the bench observed.