Supreme Court urges Delhi Police to prevent crimes against women

The Supreme Court urged Delhi Police to focus on preventing crimes against women and to act firmly against people considered prone to committing such offences, during a hearing on October 5. The bench said women should feel safe in public spaces and while travelling by road or metro, including at night, and stressed that preventing crime matters more than responding after an offence occurs. Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran made the remarks while hearing the Court’s suo motu case concerning reported assaults in Delhi and the National Capital Region. The Court had taken up the matter on September 28 after reports of crimes against women and minors. Its proceedings and the allegations described in those reports do not, by themselves, establish that the alleged offences occurred. Among the incidents noted by the Court was the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old at Aastha Kunj Park in Delhi. Reports cited in the proceedings said the assault allegedly took place on September 21. Other reports described an alleged assault involving a minor in Swaroop Nagar and an alleged sexual assault of a minor inside a bus travelling from Greater Noida to Delhi.