25 per cent rise in Gurugram sexual crimes this year: Report

The spate of rising sexual crimes in addition to the recent Manesar gang rape and murder case has yet again raised questions about women safety and security in the Millennium City.

Already, this year, 54 cases of rape have been registered which includes nine incidents of gang rape.

The situations have taken an ugly turn with more women migrating to the city for employment opportunities. While in 2014, there were 116 registered rape cases, in 2015 it increased to 130 and 2016 recorded 144 such cases.

Also, there has been an increase in gang rape incidents in the city. 2014 showcases 17 such incidents but in 2015 and 2016, the figures shot up to 21 and 22 respectively.

Coupled with this are cases of women molestation and harassment. In 2014 and 2015, there were 124 and 178 cases of molestation respectively but in 2016, the figures escalated to 320. This year, the figure stands at 210. Statistics state that there has been a 25 percent hike in sexual crimes against women in Gurugram.

The crime prevailing in the city did not even spare the minors and a total of 106 cases of sexual crimes against infants were registered in 2016.

This year, over a dozen of such similar cases, have been registered.

The recent of such cases is the Manesar rape and murder incident, where a 19-year-old mother was raped and her nine month-old-daughter was killed by four miscreants on May 29.

2017 began with cases being registered against kidnap, gang-rape and murder of infants aged between 5-10 years in areas of Wazirabad and Civil Lines.

The bodies were often dumped in water tanks.

This was soon followed by a gang rape incident recorded in Pataudi where a 22-year-old pregnant woman was raped by eight people. It was later found that she was abducted from Sikkim.

Contrast to the statements given by the city cops on tightening the security measures of women, the register book of 2017, went on adding one such crime after the other.

"We have identified certain sensitive areas in the city and deployed our officials over there in plain clothes to maintain surveillance. We are also in the process of streamlining the video coverage captured in CCTV cameras so that we can catch the culprits quickly," added a senior Gurugram official.

Speaking in a detailed manner regarding the arrested rapists, the official said, "There are several categories of rapists. In our interrogation, one person raped an infant as he was unemployed and was advised that upon committing this act he may get a job. There was another case where a person was impotent and he committed this crime just to vent out his anger."

All these incidents have unveiled the fact that the Gurugram Police are running with a staff shortage.

Even after an addition of ten new police stations in 2017, there is a shortage of more than 1,000 police personnel. Also, the city cops need over 459 women police personnel but there are only 335 with rest of the posts lying vacant.

"Irrespective of the challenges, there are certain basics that need to be worked upon. Not only in the outskirts but even the densely populated areas in the city are poorly lit and challenges of open drinking. All these factors only add to the vulnerability of women residents," said Rashmi Singh, a city resident.