63 percent of 1,965 rape cases recorded in Delhi in 2018-19 were under POCSO Act: NGO

Sixty-three percent of 1,965 rape cases recorded in Delhi in 2018-19 were committed against children, an NGO claimed. Of the 1,965 rape cases, 1,237 were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, it said.

"In the data for crimes against children under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, we found that 63 percent of total rapes in Delhi were targeted towards children," according to a statement released by Praja Foundation. The outer district had the highest number of cases of rape (218), molestation (378) and kidnapping and abduction (863), while the northwest district had the highest number of theft cases (12,875) reported in 2018-19, it stated.

From 2014-15 to 2018-19, the number of reported rapes dropped by six percent while molestation cases declined by 30 percent in Delhi, it stated. A total of 4,02,512 cases were to be investigated in Delhi in 2017, of which 35 percent cases were pending for investigation by the year-end.