Delhi: Crimes against women saw dip in 2020

New Delhi, Feb 20: The national capital reports 1,699 rapes, 2,186 instances of molestation and 65 cases of sexual assault against children in 2020. However the overall crimes against women decreased against women in 2020 when compared to 2019.

In 2,168 rapes, 2,921 instances of molestation and 109 cases under the POCSO Act were reported. The Delhi Police said that this was for the first time that all types of crimes against women had reduced.

However the reduction could also be due to the fact that there was a long lockdown in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. However Delhi still experienced a rape every 5 hours, a murder every 19 hours and a car theft every 15 minutes. However these averages were better compared to the previous year when rape, murder and auto theft were 4 hours, 17 hours, and 12 minutes respectively.

In 2020 a snatching took place every hour when compared to 17 a day in 2019. The number of strangers involved has further reduced this year. In percentage terms, 1.77% of the accused were strangers as compared to 2.20% in 2019. As part of our strategy to tackle such crimes, we have identified hot spots (from where a high number of crimes against women are reported). Our teams work on such hot spots to reduce the numbers. Every complaint is monitored at the highest level," Delhi Police Commissioner, S N Shrivastava said.