SC raps govt over rising crimes against women, questions police attack on women protestors NEW DELHI: Despite widespread public outcry following the brutal gang-rape and murder of a medical student in a moving bus last December, crimes against women in the Capital have doubled this year compared to 2012. Cases of rapes witnessed a surge of over 100 per cent, while molestation and eve-teasing cases witnessed a five-time jump. This was revealed in the Delhi government’s submission before the Supreme Court on Wednesday during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking action against police officers who manhandled a girl in north-east Delhi. She was protesting outside a local hospital following the rape of a minor girl in east Delhi. The statistics were placed a day after a bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi sought the data. On perusing it, the bench expressed concern over the rising number of crimes. According to the year-wise crime data, 4,758 cases were registered till October 15 last year. In comparison, 10,497 cases of crimes against women were lodged this year. There were 590 rape cases reported in 2012. This year as many as 1,330 such cases have already been registered till October 15. Cases of molestation and eve teasing jumped from 526 to 2,844 and 154 to 793, respectively, in the same period. The number of kidnapping/ abduction cases also rose from 1,750 last year to a total of 2,906 cases so far this year. (see box) “Why is it happening in the last few years? Why people are losing confidence? It did not happen 10 years ago. Crime against women has come to the forefront only in the last five years. They used to suffer silently and they still continue to do so except in a few cases when there have been protests and it has come out in the open,” the SC observed after reading the figures. It said the December 16 rape wasn’t an isolated incident. “Every day, girls travelling in buses are subjected to molestation. Women continue to suffer. Incidents get highlighted when the people come out to protest,” it said. The bench told the petitioner’s advocate and Delhi government counsel to submit names of two independent persons, in a sealed envelope, who could probe the incident of police lathi-charge. The court, which saw a compact disc showing the recording of the incident in chambers, raised question mark as to why in recent years, people have lost confidence in governments and come out on streets in protest. It sought an explanation as to what prompted the lathi-charge. 31 Oct 2013Hindustan Times (Delhi)\
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 06:09:37 +0000
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