93% rape cases still pending in city’s trial courts

While the Delhi Police is on the radar of the Delhi government for poor policing, the statistics of judiciary in the past four years reveals that, out of the solved rape cases 93 per cent of them are still pending in the trail courts of the national Capital.

From 2012 till September this year, 6,258 rape cases have been registered at various police stations. Around 706 cases were reported in 2012, 1,636 in 2013,  2,166 in 2014 and 1750 till September 2015. Out of them, Delhi Police have solved as many as 4030 cases (64.39 per cent) and arrested the alleged accused persons in the respective cases. Shockingly, out of 4,030 solved cases, around 3,732 cases are still pending in the local courts.

Not only this, but the statistics tells a different story too. The 7 per cent of the decided cases (in which the court has announced the judgment), the accused have been convicted only in 25 per cent of the cases. In the rest 75 per cent of the cases the accused have been acquitted. According to a source: “The rate of acquittal in rape cases is high as in most of the cases the victim takes a U-turn or becomes hostile and either refuses to take the case forward or does not identify the accused.” A senior police official requesting anonymity said: “The rape cases that are filed on the basis of failure in live-in-relationship, refusal of marriage, providing job usually turns out to be either forged cases or the victim wanting to compromise.”

This year, out of the 1,750 rape cases reported in Delhi till September, in 1.75 per cent cases the victim was the live-in-partner of the accused. Similarly, 25 per cent rape cases were filed after the alleged accused refused to marry the victim and 0.75 per cent rapes were committed on pretext of providing jobs.

“Every time questions are being raised on the poor policing but it has been learnt that only 3 per cent of rape accused are found to be strangers and the rest 97 per cent are either family members, relatives, friends or peer groups. To curb the 3 per cent of the rape incidents that have been committed by strangers Delhi Police have already taken many initiatives and is constantly trying to provide safe environment to the women,” the official said. 

A recent survey was conducted to compare the rape cases in India and other countries. According to the data of rape cases in 2012, it has been revealed that rape cases in India are 12 per cent per lakh population whereas in New York it is 16 per cent. Texas has recorded 33 per cent and Washington a whopping 36 per cent.