UAE | General
Unsafe Delhi becoming a bane for women
- By Nilima Pathak
- Published: 00:00 July 7, 2003
After recent reports of crime against women, including murder, molestation and rape incidents in broad daylight, the city is fast acquiring the notoriety for being unsafe for women.
Recently, the country's top government hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), hit the headlines when a 28-year-old woman who came for treatment to the hospital was raped on the grounds of the hospital. She was lured into the staff quarters by an X-ray technician and a medical record attendant at the Institution Rotary Cancer Hospital on the promise to fix an early appointment with a doctor.
Even as the hospital tries to salvage its image, women patients and their attendants are beginning to feel the pangs of insecurity amidst the hospital surroundings. On the ground floor a board near the lift proclaims: 'Ladies are requested not to travel in the lift alone.'
Remarks a middle-aged woman, Madhu Jain: "I wait for a couple of people before entering the lift or else take the stairs to reach the second floor." Her daughter is admitted in the hospital.
An uneasiness prevails at the staff quarters. The resident students are quite perturbed by the rape incident. They are reminded of another incident not long ago involving a fourth year student of Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC).
The student was raped on at the Khooni Darwaza, a monument protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The monument is situated opposite the main gate of the MAMC, hardly a kilometre away from police headquarters and several newspaper offices on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
The incident raised the hackles of parliamentarians and citizens alike. And it was with good reason that Delhi was termed the crime capital of India.
The National Crime Records Bureau has recorded an increase in crimes against women like cruelty, dowry deaths, rapes and sexual harassment. Of the 1,078 rape cases reported from all over the country, the highest – 34.7 per cent have been from Delhi. Among the 512 dowry deaths, the city constitutes for 19.9 per cent. Similarly, out of the 2,066 molestation cases, the maximum number that of 488, have been reported from the capital.
A recent data compiled by the Ministry of Women and Child Development also revealed that crime against women was on the rise in the country.
It showed that one rape is committed every 54 minutes, an act of eve teasing every 51 minutes, a molestation every 26 minutes and a dowry death every 54 minutes.
With instances of crime against women happening with regularity, what with eve teasers on the prowl in buses, at bus stops, universities or even on the roads, women's organisations such as the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) feel that stringent laws will not act as a deterrent. The Association appealed to the public to forego its non-interventionist attitude. A woman not finding any support when they are harassed emboldens men, it felt.
Admitted joint commissioner, Delhi Police, Bimla Mehta, in charge of crime against women's cell, "Crime against women has been rising at an alarming rate of more than 20 per cent annually. Despite various legislation protecting women's rights, women are still an exploited lot and feel unsafe in the city.
The insecurity among women is such that they are now even wary of driving alone. There was this latest incident of a woman driver who was shot dead at night, because she had tried to restrain some men from fighting on the road.
Says Pooja Mehra, "First it was just eve teasing, now such incidents of road-rage has killed my driving spirit."
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