MHA steps in over rising rapes

The Union home ministry has expressed grave concern over the deteriorating law-and- order situation in the capital, especially over growing incidents of rape being reported in the region. In a high- level review meeting with top officials of Delhi police, the ministry has directed them to step up efforts to control incidents of heinous crime, considering the fact that the image of the capital city has been taking a beating owing to such incidents.

According to highly placed sources, a strict message was sent out to Delhi police in the meeting with the emphasis on the fact that despite the national capital having a massive 86,000 strong police force in place, there has been a spurt in reporting of heinous incidents, especially that of rape.

The meeting, where top functionaries of the home ministry were present, also discussed that ample utilisation of such a heavy presence of police personnel should be made so that percentage of heinous crimes comes down in the national capital, sources informed.

Delhi police officials are said to have been told that in a city with a population of 2 crore, there is one police personnel for every 200 citizens, which is adequate, therefore efforts should be made to make full use of these personnel.

The growing concern within the Centre over the prevailing law and order situation in Delhi, also seems to have emanated from the fact that according to the recently released report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 2,199 cases of rape were reported in 2015 in the union territory region of Delhi, while 17,104 cases of crime against women were reported during the same period.

Children also seem to be the most vulnerable in the national capital after women. According to NCRB, in 2015, an astounding 9,489 cases of crime against children were reported. During the same period, 570 cases of murder were reported in Delhi.

While the Centre seems concerned about the growing crime rate in the national capital, on Friday, actor Amitabh Bachchan said during a press conference to promote his latest film Pink (which also has crime against women as its central theme) that he feels embarrassed when he goes abroad. “It’s very embarrassing when we visit abroad and people there say, ‘You are from India, the land of rapes’. I want that to go. I don’t like it when people call us a third world country or developing country. We all must work to make India a first world nation,” Mr Bachchan said.