NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court was Wednesday informed by the city police that there has been a "steep rise" in incidents of rape, molestation and eveteasing in national capital since the December 16 gangrape case and most of these occur inside the victim's house and the accused in majority of the cases is a relative or an acquaintance.
The submission was made in an affidavit placed before a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul who listed the matter for hearing on October 29 after senior advocate Neeraj Kishen Kaul, appearing for Delhi police, sought an adjournment.
"There is a steep rise in incidents of rape, molestation and eveteasing after the Nirbhaya case (December 16, 2012 gangrape).
"There were a total of 2276 incidents of rape, molestation and eveteasing in 2014 up to September 15 as against 2070 incidents during the same period in 2013.
"1375 out of the 2276 incidents took place inside the house and its difficult to anticipate or prevent such incidents ... In 1767 out of the 2276 incidents, the accused turned out to be relatives or acquaintances...," the affidavit submitted by Delhi Police, through advocate Zubeda Begum, said.
According to the affidavit, there is around 125 per cent increase in rape cases as compared to 2013 for the period from January to September 15, while the rise in molestation and eve-teasing cases is around 448 per cent and 478 per cent, respectively.
These figures pertained to the crimes against women reported in 44 red-flagged areas or police stations of the capital from January 1, 2014 to September 15, 2014 and were submitted pursuant to the court's direction of September 24 when it had directed Delhi police to file a better affidavit.
The police, in its affidavit, answered the queries raised on the last date by the court which had also wanted to know specific details regarding measures implemented to curb crimes against women in four police stations - Mehrauli, Govindpuri, Hauz Khas and Safdarjung Enclave.
The court had also raised queries regarding scientific techniques employed by the investigating officers (IOs) while probing the crimes, especially those against women.
Answering these queries, Delhi Police has said that in the areas falling under the four police stations the measures undertaken include identification of affected or sensitive spots, increase in patrolling, deployment of anti-stalking and anti-eveteasing pickets, deployment of women police officers and conducting seminars and training programmes on gender sensitisation.
Deployment of pickets and patrolling is primarily at the bus stops as well as near the colleges and schools and NGOs have been roped in to spread awareness, police has said.
It has also submitted that meetings have been organised with RWAs of these areas to create awareness about such incidents.
On the scientific techniques employed to probe crimes against women, Delhi Police has said that depending upon circumstances of each case, its IOs employ a number of methods which include, ensuring that medical examination of victim as quickly as possible, especially in rape cases.
Spot inspection by forensic and crime team, seizure and examination of biological evidences like blood, bodily discharge, etc as well as analysis of CCTV footage (if available), call details and mobile locations are the other scientific techniques that are employed, police has said.
The court was hearing a plea filed by social activist Nandita Dhar through advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal against increasing incidents of eveteasing in the capital.
On September 24, the high court had come down heavily on police for its "shoddy" probe into rising cases of crime against women in the national capital and had said that it has led to lack of fear for law in the minds of the perpetrators.
It had also slammed Delhi police for its "downhill" crime investigation and had asked it to shape up. The court had also expressed dissatisfaction over the Delhi Police affidavit containing the comparative chart of crimes against women reported in 44 red-flagged areas of the capital from January 1 to April 15 and from April 16 to July 31.
The bench had said comparison of crimes committed in the two periods is like "comparing apples with oranges" and directed the police to present a more "detailed, correct and complete picture" of the status of offences against women in those areas, specifically in Mehrauli, Govindpuri, Hauz Khas and Safdarjung Enclave, and measures taken to curb the same.
The court had also directed the police to also deal with the points in the report of Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) with respect to the hotspots and reasons for crime in the red-flagged areas.