WUNRN
INDIA – STREET CRIME IN DELHI TRIPLES – A RAPE RECORDED EVERY 4 HOURS
Karn Pratap Singh,
Hindustan Times - New Delhi, January 03, 2015ments
Nearly 300 people were robbed, mugged or had
their belongings snatched every day of the past year in Delhi, data released by
the police said Friday, underlining the failure of the authorities in keeping
the city’s roads safe.
Street crimes in the city surged by 186% in
2014 with 12 cases reported every hour, up from four in 2013. The overall crime
rate also doubled – 147,000 cases till December 15, 2014 – compared to the
previous year.
Delhi remains notorious as rape and molestation
cases shoot up in the city.
Crimes against women remained a worry with a
rape reported every four hours, and a molestation every two hours in the
Capital. Number of rape cases grew to 2,069, up 32% from 2013 while cases of
molestation jumped 25% to 4,179.
Percentage of crimes solved, however, plunged
to an abysmal 29.5% from 48.86% in 2013. Culprits in only 26.96% of all
snatching cases and 46.12% of robbery cases were brought to book in 2014, down
from 47.24% and 75.56% respectively in 2013.
Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi attributed
the spurt in street crimes to police registering all complaints and police
control room calls as FIRs, not turning away people to keep the crime graph
down.
The number of investigating officers hadn’t
kept pace with rising crime, causing the dip in number of cases solved, Bassi
added. Delhi has around 84,000 officers policing its 1.67 crore population – a
ratio of one cop per 200 people.
Amongst street crimes, robbery rose by a
whopping 459% -- 18 cases daily or 6,180 overall – when compared to 2013 that
reported 4 cases daily and 1,106 in total. Incidents of snatching also doubled
from 3,316 in 2013 to 6,944 last year.
Bassi said the rise in cases was due to his
batting for “truthful registration” of crime. “Last year, I urged we must stamp
out the practice of burking from our functions since it is a major cause of
public dissatisfaction. I now have no hesitation in saying reluctance to
register cognizable crime has almost disappeared among Delhi Police officers,”
he said.