Only 50 percent crimes reported in Delhi, Mumbai: Survey

Only about 50 percent of crimes and about 12 percent of sexual harassment cases are reported to police in Delhi and Mumbai, a survey said on Tuesday.

According to a report by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), only 46.8 percent of crimes get reported to police in Delhi, while in Mumbai the percentage stood at 41.8 percent.

Even the rate of lodging a sexual harassment case was very low in both the cities -- only 7.5 percent cases were registered in Delhi, while in Mumbai, the rate was a bit higher with 11.1 percent.

The report said that most of the sexual harassment cases registered were related to passing of lewd and sexual comments.

The CHRI along with the Indian Statistical Institute and Nielsen India Pvt. Ltd. released its report on "Crime Victimisation and Safety Perception" here.

The report was based on a year-long survey carried out between July 2014 and June 2015 in Delhi and Mumbai.

On not reporting the crimes, CHRI director Maja Daruwala said: "One reason which came out in our survey was that the victims didn't wanted to be caught up in police or court matters.

"The second reason which came into light was that the victims didn't feel there was enough evidence to take the case forward," she added.

The maximum cases registered with police were related to theft, which was followed by sexual harassment and assault cases.

Cases of mobile phones being stolen were highest among all in both the cities.

The report also said that about 36 percent of complainants in Delhi and 51 percent in Mumbai were satisfied with the police response.

It said the residents of Mumbai generally perceive police in a more positive light and felt safer than those residing in Delhi.

It also stated that non-Marathi speakers in Mumbai and non-Hindi speakers in Delhi were comparatively more vulnerable to crime.

--IANS

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