Crime goes unabated in Delhi

Diksha Praveen Gupta





� New Delhi occupies top slot for crime against senior citizens, discloses a HelpAge India study.The recent HelpAge India reveals that Delhi has left cities like Mumbai and Bangalore far behind when it comes to crime against older people.

� New Delhi is one of the cities that have the highest percentage of crime against women too. A National Crime Records Bureau report suggests that cases of rape, dowry death, molestation and incest are the highest in the city.


� Delhi maintained its lead as the crime capital of the country for five consecutive years. India�s capital city has been on the top for almost all violent crimes, including murder, rape, dowry death, molestation, kidnapping and abduction. This was revealed in a study conducted by the Union Home Ministry.

Ahead of the Commonwealth games, where the nation�s pride is at stake, the above mentioned data is certainly alarming. Experts attribute lack of resources, police-criminal nexus and slow judicial process as some of the reasons behind the rising crime graph. But there are several other reasons which fuel crime in the national capital.

The national capital continues to be vulnerable for the fairer sex with a reported increase in the number of cases of crime against women.

A data released by National Commission for Women (NCW) reveals that out of total 2000 complaints of crimes against women, 535 were rape, 338 of molestation and eve teasing, 361 cases were related to gender and caste based discrimination and 21 for attempt to rape among others.

Senior citizens are the other soft targets of criminals in the national capital. The total cases of crime against elderly registered in Delhi last year, the highest form of crime was hurting a senior (42.2 per cent) followed by murder and robbery which accounted to 35.5 and 13.3 per cent respectively.

The woes of seniors seem to be basically sourced from their own children and relatives with as much as 52 per cent of them facing harassment for property.

Nearly 50 per cent of perpetrators of such crimes are children and children-in-law, followed by neighbours and others (27 per cent), the survey said.

The ever increasing concrete jungle of multi-storey buildings, expressways, flyovers, speeding vehicles and fast-paced life could be one face of the city. But this �mayanagri� has another face too, which is far different from this �artificial development�.

There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. About one-third of the city population lives in slums. They live in inhuman conditions devoid of any basic amenities. In these inhuman conditions crime flourishes. Owing to the vast socio-economic disparity, there is an aggression among the people. This aggression has not properly been dealt with which results in the growth of criminal psychology among the masses.

Also, people have become habituated with crime. Owing to the slow judicial process, there develops a feeling where a criminal think that he/she can easily get away with after committing a crime.

With such alarming figures, it becomes all the more important for the centre and state governments to focus more on law and order situation than anything else.