Society also needs to introspect, greater sensitisation needed: Delhi police chief on rape cases

Emphasising that in a majority of rape cases reported here, the victim and accused were known to each other, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik on Monday said there is a need for the society to "introspect" as police can only patrol streets and public places to ensure safety of women.

At an interactive event organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), the city police chief also said the force will reach out to NGOs and other agencies to bring about greater sensitisation among people.

The 1985-batch IPS officer, also fielded several questions from a hall full of women, who brought out a range of issues, from patrolling staff augmentation to rate of crimes against women and from the image of the Delhi Police in people's eyes to its all-woman SWAT anti-terror force.

Asked why rape cases in Delhi were not falling significantly since the horrific Nirbhaya gangrape incident in 2012, he said, "Statistically speaking, the fall in cases of rape in Delhi over the last few years has been marginal, but we are all committed to ensure safety of women and working on it through various measures, be it a mobile app like Himmat Plus, or self-defence training programme for girls and women".

"Delhi is a metropolis, and in majority of the cases, rape victims and accused have been found to be known to each other. We can work towards ensuring safety in the streets, augment patrolling on roads and step up presence of personnel in public places. But, it is not possible to address everything, as in what happens behind closed doors... As a society, we need to introspect why is it happening," Patnaik said.

In response to another question, he said, the Delhi Police is exploring the possibility of working with other ministries, and see how efforts can be synergised.

Asked about the Delhi Police's position in the city which has both a Lt Governor and a chief minister, he said, "The hierarchy of reporting is very clear for our force".

"We do accord a lot of attention from time to time to requests that we receive from the Delhi government as it has elected representative of people, but we report directly to the LG," he said.

On safety of women, he further emphasised that over the last two years, this matter has been taken in a "big way".

Women safety is not just about policing, the public transport department, eduction department and social welfare department also have a role to play, the police chief said.

"There is an apex committee, headed by the LG, which monitors women safety in Delhi. It meets regularly, and beside city police, we have representatives from other agencies too, whose roles are specified," he said.

Patnaik also mentioned that an integrated criminal justice system is being worked upon which would involve police, judiciary, prison system, among others.

Eaerlier Special CP (Crime) Satish Golcha made a power-point presentation of the city police set up and efforts made by it over the last few years.

Delhi has 209 police stations, 15 police districts, two zones, he said.

"The number of PCR calls received as increased from 82 lakh in 2105 to 1.77 crore in 2018, which is abut 60,000 calls per day," he said.