NEW DELHI: The National Crime Records Bureau has some good news for women in Delhi. According to the data released by NCRB, there has been a 24 per cent decline in crimes against women in the capital from 2015 to 2017.
The crimes against women including, rape, dowry and domestic violence, declined from 17,222 in 2015 to 13,076 in 2017 while in 2016, the number was 15,310. According to National Federation of Indian Women General Secretary, Annie Raja, there is a need to analyse what resulted in the decline. “In 2017, we witnessed horrible crimes against women. Even without spending a penny or without earmarking more budgetary allocation, how has the crime rate gone down?” she questioned.
“We want to analyse the NCRB data that shows the decline. Even after the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, they (the government) assured many steps but there were no sincere efforts on part of the state government or the central government, which is responsible for the law and order situation in the capital,” she said.
In what can be called an embarrassment of sorts, the rate of crimes against foreigners has been the highest in Delhi for three years in a row. In 2015, the number of crimes reported against foreigners was 145. That figure rose to 154 in 2016 and 169 in 2017 – the highest in India.
The data also showed that there was an increase in crimes against senior citizens in 2017 (753) in comparison with 2016 (685), and also a spike in cyber crimes.
In 2017, 23,090 cases were pending for investigation from previous year, the NCRB data showed. This figure includes both the cases registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL). In 2017, the city had 120 dowry deaths while 1,229 cases of rape were registered.
That year, under Section 498-A (cruelty by husband or his relatives); 509 (insult to the modesty of women) under the IPC, 2,735 and 619 cases were registered respectively.
