Rape data: 63 percent rape victims in Delhi in 2018-19 were minor girls

Out of the 1965 rape cases registered in Delhi in 2018-19, the victims in 1237 cases were below 18 years of age.

HIGHLIGHT

• 94 percent cases of kidnapping were related to children out of which 70 percent were girls.
• The rape cases were dropped by 6 percent and molestation by 30 percent.
• A high number of cases go unreported due to non-cooperative nature of Delhi police.

Despite claims of reforms and improvement in policing, the incident of rape against minors are very high Delhi. According to the data availed from Delhi police through RTI, it was revealed that minor girls constitute the most vulnerable group for rape while minor boys were the prime target of kidnappers.

"In the data for crimes against children under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, we found that 63 percent of total rapes (1,237 out of 1,965 cases) in Delhi, were targeted towards innocent children. Further, of the total cases of kidnapping and abduction, 94 percent (5,555 cases) were related to kidnapping of children in 2018-19. Also, maximum number of kidnapping cases involved kidnapping girls – 70 percent cases in 2018-19", said Milind Mhaske, Director, Praja Foundation, a NGO in Delhi. Further, according to the RTI data, from 2014-15 to 2018-19, the number of reported rapes dropped by 6 percent while molestation cases declined by 30 percent in Delhi. Of the major reported crimes, cases of theft increased from 52,211 in 2014-15 to 1,08,406 in 2018-19, which a huge rise of 108 percent.

A household survey of 27,121 households was also conducted by the NGO. The findings revealed that out of the total households surveyed, 35 percent respondents had admitted to face the crime but 26 percent did not report it to the police. This shows the actual number of crime cases in the city is higher than those reported to the police. Though the unreported cases are considered as no cases by the police, they often boost the morale of the criminals.