Delhi among most unsafe cities for women: NCRB data

Delhi accounted for 29.04% of the 48,755 crimes against women reported in 19 major cities across the country

With an average three rapes a day, Delhi is still among the most unsafe metropolitan city for women in the country, according to data shared by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), with 14,158 crimes against women reported in 2022. This figure was a slight increase from the 13,982 crimes against women reported in 2021.

Delhi reported 14,158 crimes against women in 2022. (File)

Delhi’s figures translated to 186.9 crimes against women per 100,000 people. The city accounted for 29.04% of the 48,755 crimes against women reported in 19 major cities across the country, suggesting that law and order authorities were not working properly to create a safe environment for women.

However, Jaipur was the most unsafe city in India, with a rate of 239.3 crimes against women. The Rajasthan capital reported 3,479 crimes against women.

Deputy commissioner of police (public relations) Suman Nalwa said Delhi’s numbers were high as the force ensures that crimes are registered. “Complainants are not turned away at any police station. Senior police officers also conduct checks on the status of complaints that are filed at each police station and it is monitored at the highest level. This is one reason why the number of crimes against women is high. Many times, people from other states also come and file FIRs in the capital. We file Zero FIRs in such cases and transfer them to the respective states, so that the complaint is brought to its logical conclusion,” she said.

Even the experts feel that one should not look at the rankings according to the NCRB data.

Braja Kishore Singh, the former joint commissioner of Delhi Police – who now practices law at the Supreme Court – said that absolute numbers may predict the increase or decrease in a particular crime category, but causality and several other factors that lead to a crime are equally important, therefore, rankings are not always fair.

“Data of different crimes often gives a clear picture to analyse the frequency of different crimes, its rise and decrease. But one should not compare crime across cities or states or on the basis of case numbers or crime rates. There are several factors that lead to a particular crime. Instead of comparing, one should use this data to take preventive steps and ensure that declining crimes are reduced further,” he said.

Delhi led the charts in several types of crimes against women, such as rape — the city’s 1,204 cases accounting for almost a third of the 3,635 rapes reported in metropolitan cities, followed by 497 in Jaipur and 370 in Mumbai. The Capital also recorded the most number of dowry deaths (129) — more than a third of the total 381 such cases in the country. Delhi was followed by 43 each in Lucknow and Kanpur, and 33 in Jaipur.

However, there was one type of crime in which there was a city worse than Delhi — of the 1,752 cases lodged under Indian Penal Code section 509 (insult to the modesty of women), Mumbai topped the list with 667 cases, followed by 400 in Delhi and 250 in Kolkata.