Most murders in Delhi committed by first-timers

A majority of the murders that take place in the national capital are committed by first-timers, instigated by a sudden provocation and using sharp-edged weapons like knives and scissors, a report by the Delhi Police has revealed.

A copy of the report with IANS showed that of the 450 people arrested for murder in the capital between Jan 1 and July 31 this year, 420 were first timers.

"In 22 percent of the cases the victims were killed due to a sudden provocation or a trivial issue, while 1.6 percent of the people were murdered due to a property dispute," said the report.

According to a police officer, who requested anonymity, the figure has risen slightly from 21 percent in 2013.

"In 2013, 21 percent of the murder cases occurred due to sudden provocation... this year the figure has increased slightly," the officer, who did not want to be identified, told IANS.

In 102 cases, sharp-edged weapons like a knife or scissors were used while 61 people were strangled to death and 40 were killed by a firearm, the report added.

According to another police officer, the easy availability of sharp-edged weapons is the main reason behind their popularity.

"In cases of sudden provocations, a knife or a blade or a scissor is easy to get hold of and is therefore used in so many cases," the officer said requesting anonymity.

"Most of such cases are related to road rage or disputes arising over parking spaces in residential colonies," the officer added.

As per the report, 302 people - 221 men and 81 women - were murdered in the first seven months of 2014 in Delhi and 224 cases were solved.

At 122, the majority of the victims were in the age group of 18 to 25 years while 92 victims were aged between 25 and 35 years.

Of the total arrested people, 200 were aged between 18 and 35 years.

A total of 197 accused were uneducated or have just passed tenth standard while another 135 were school dropouts.

(Alok Singh can be contacted at alok.s@ians.in)