780 rape cases reported this year

New Delhi: Despite tall claims by the Delhi police about its initiatives to check rising crime graph, the national capital, it appears, has become less safe for women than it was last year. There is always a sense of fear as the city has become a nightmare for women.

The Delhi police crime data showed that 780 cases of rape were reported till May 15 against 757 in 2017. This means over five rape cases have been reported every day in the national capital.

Cases of cruelty by husbands and in-laws showed a rise from 929 to 957 in the same time period. It means, around seven cases of cruelty are reported every day in the city. In every two days, one death due to dowry takes place in the city. Cases of dowry deaths have ascended from 52 to 62 this year as of May 15. According to police, more cases of rape are being reported after campaigns for women safety have increased in the past few months. It was found that in 95 per cent of the cases, the accused was known to the survivor.

The spike in crime against women this year recorded 251 cases of insult to the modesty of women while the previous year, in the same time period, there were 243 cases reported.

Recently, a 20-year-old visually challenged woman was allegedly raped by three men in Central Delhi’s Desh Bandhu Gupta Road. Distressed by the incident, the victim’s uncle took his life. Cases like these are very often in Delhi.

Earlier in May, DCW (Delhi Commission for Women) chief Swati Maliwal started her fast demanding death penalty for rape of minors and setting up of fast track courts across the country to try rape cases, along with other demands after outrage over recent cases of sexual assault.

President Ram Nath Kovind approved the ordinance to award death penalty to those convicted of raping girls below 12 years.

Despite this, a few days ago a 30-year-old woman was kidnapped from Gurgaon and gang-raped by five men at a guesthouse in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area.

The government and authorities, including the police, should act swiftly in tackling this issue which should be the top priority for them.