New Delhi:
In a change from the trend of the last several years, the graph of heinous crimes in Delhi has come down a bit with the number of cases of rape, murder and dacoity registering a fall in the first four months of this year as compared to the corresponding period last year.
According to data available with Delhi Police, the city witnessed 621 rapes till April 30 this year, which was marginally less than last year's figure of 640 during the first four months.
When it comes to murders, which is considered the yardstick of crime in a city, police registered 165 cases under section 302 IPC in this period this year as against 184 in the corresponding period.
Till April 30 this year, 26 cases of dacoity were registered with Delhi Police as compared to 34 in the same period last year. Cases of hurt also went down from 619 in 2014 to 576 this year.
However, cases of molestation of women continued to rise from 1,255 in the first four months of last year to 1,474 in corresponding period this year.
Similar upward trend has been witnessed in cases of motor vehicle theft, which grew from 6,519 in 2014 to 9,112 year in the first four months of this year. Burglary cases rose from 3,037 to 4,203 in 2015 while cases of robbery registered a quantum jump from 1,537 last year to 2,218 this year.
Cases of attempt to murder registered a marginal hike from 209 in 2014 to 225 this year. Snatching cases climbed from 2,587 last year to 3,087 in 2015.
If one looks at the statistics of the last two years, every crime head had registered a steady increase. In 2014, 2,166 rape cases were reported as compared to 1,636 cases in 2013. 4,322 cases of molestation of women were reported in 2014 while in 2013 the number stood at 3,515.
In 2014, cases of murder in the national capital grew from 517 to 586 while cases of dacoity more than doubled with 33 in 2013 to 82 in 2014. Cases of robbery grew exponentially from 1,245 in 2013 to 6,464 in 2014.
"After the December 16, 2012 incident, the society was forced to think in this direction and steps were taken. Women got a new self confidence as law was changed; police was sensitized. This caused a spurt of 300 to 400 per cent rise in crimes against women in 2013. The trend continued in 2014 although it was not that steep," Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi had recently said.
"Now, if we see those figures in continuation in 2015, we find that they are almost similar, even lower," he added.