Only one among the 754 accused of rape in Delhi were convicted by courts hearing 635 cases between January and November this year, a Union Home Ministry data revealed.
Delhi’s police force, functioning under the Union Home Ministry, recorded this poor rate of conviction despite the number of rape cases rising and 2012 marking the highest number of incidence of rape that were reported to police.
Of the 754 rape accused, one has been convicted so far, while another 403 were facing trials. Investigations are still pending against 348, while two were discharged in their cases, the data said.
In 2011, there were 572 cases of rape reported to the Delhi police, while in 2010, 2009 and 2008, the number of rape cases were 507, 469 and 466 respectively, showing a clear upward trend.
In 2011, though, the Delhi Police were successful in getting 18 of the 745 arrested persons convicted for rape, 34 were acquitted and another 10 discharged in their cases, 597 are being tried by different courts and another 86 still facing investigations.
Of the 685 arrests made in 2010, the courts convicted 37 for rape, while a large number of 107 were acquitted. Another 518 are facing trial, while 13 others are still under investigation, the official numbers showed.
The Delhi police had arrested 675 persons accused of rape in 2009 and of these, 82 were convicted and 211 acquitted in their respective cases. One of them is still facing investigations. In 2008, the police booked 604 persons on charges of rape and of them 52 were convicted, while 119 were acquitted by the courts. Another 17 accused in cases that year are still under probe.
Another set of Home Ministry numbers also revealed that 624 cases of molestation of women were reported in Delhi between January and November this year for which 768 persons were arrested and yet only one case resulted in conviction till date.