Delhi still unsafe for women; ranks on top in crimes against women: NCRB Data

Eleven years since the horrifying Nirbhaya case, nothing has changed in Delhi with the National Capital ranking on top regarding crimes against women. The year 2022 saw a steady rise in crime rates compared to 2021 and steps to combat such acts have been insufficient with several roads lacking street lights and paucity of CCTV cameras at bus stops.

New Delhi:Eleven years have passed since the horrendous 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as 'Nirbhaya' but nothing much has changed in the National Capital. The issue of women's safety is still brushed under the carpet and crimes against women are on a steady rise in Delhi, as per data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Backdrop:Lakhs of infuriated Indians staged protests across the country demanding justice for Nirbhaya, who was gang-raped by six men and thrown from a moving bus on a cold wintry night on December 16. After 13 days of combat, she succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Singapore.

People pointed fingers at the law and order situation in Delhi, following which the then Congress-run government faced immense criticism and backlashing from both citizens and the opposition. Public anger pressurised the top court to take up this case on priority. After 7.5 years of rigorous hearing the case at the Fast Track Court, on March 20, 2020, the four accused were hung to death, as per the verdict by the Supreme Court.

However, the question remains as to what has changed since then and how safe are women now. The answer is in the negative with NCRB data showing Delhi ranking on top in terms of crimes against women, including rape and molestation.

Crime rates increased in 2022:As per the NCRB data, crimes against women in Delhi increased instead of decreasing in 2022 compared to 2021. Among the 19 metropolitan cities in India, Delhi records the highest number of cases of crimes against women.

In 2021, two rape cases were registered every day, the number of which increased to three in 2022. In 2021, crimes against women were reported at 13,892, which increased to 14,158 in 2022.

NCRB data shows horrifying figures:In 2022 alone, 1,204 rapes, 129 dowry deaths, five acid attacks and 3,909 kidnapping cases were registered in Delhi.

Major cases: Last year, several atrocious cases of crime against women made headlines. A girl was dragged for 12 kilometres in Kanjhawala on December 31, 2022, and another minor was stabbed to death by her insane lover in the Shahbad Dairy area.

Delay in updating statistics: The Delhi police used to update crime statistics against women on its website every one-and-a-half months. However, since July 2022, updates are not reflected on time. Due to this delay, information on monthly crime rates in the National Capital is not available.

The government had assured of stringent steps regarding the safety of women after the Nirbhaya case. However, with time, most of them were put on the back burner.

How safe are our women? Several roads in Delhi lack street lights and are breeding grounds for frightful crimes against women. Bus stands are no exceptions with awful crime cases being reported there. Talks of installing CCTV cameras at such sensitive places were doing the rounds but have not seen the light of the day. In a nutshell, we have failed to protect our womenfolks.