Hardlook: The Unsafe Streets

The homemaker was allegedly raped by the side of a narrow road when she, her husband and brother-in-law were returning home after visiting relatives. According to police, the accused held the men back as the woman was sexually assaulted.

Visits by The Indian Express to the three crime scenes pointed to some worrying commonalties: relatively isolated stretches devoid of police presence or the watchful eye of a CCTV camera, surrounded by a network of wide roads that enabled a quick getaway.

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While the road has streetlights along the median, several lights are non-functional and, consequently, not all stretches are well lit. (Express photo: Manoj Kumar)

Faridabad’s Rajiv Gandhi intersection bustles with activity every evening — auto drivers haggling with passengers, people on their way home from work stopping for a snack at eateries and residents heading to the neighbourhood kirana store for groceries.

The junction also houses a police post barely 100 metres from where — at 7 pm on January 13 — a 23-year-old woman was dragged into a Scorpio car by four intoxicated men and allegedly gangraped inside the vehicle. The spot from where she was abducted is just around the corner from the police post, and adjacent to the junction.

While the road has streetlights along the median, several lights are non-functional and, consequently, not all stretches are well lit. A few steps away is a chemist shop and a dairy. In the absence of CCTV cameras, it took the quick thinking of an eyewitness — who noted down a part of the vehicle’s number plate, its make and colour — to help nab the accused in less than a week.

“The PCR van was unfortunately not near the spot when the woman was abducted… However, since the incident, we have deployed more women in plainclothes at important points — especially those that see a major footfall of women — to apprehend perpetrators,” DCP (crime) Sukhbir Singh said.

Mohammad Shayin, Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad, also promised corrective steps: “CCTV cameras will be installed across the city soon. We are conducting a survey to arrive at an estimate of the number of cameras needed. Once that is complete, installation will begin. This should be completed in the next six months.”

“Around 54,000 streetlights are already installed across the city and these are being upgraded to LED lights. Work is being done in phases, but completion will depend on funds,” he added.

In the aftermath of the crime, Faridabad got a new Commissioner of Police, Amitabh Singh Dhillon, who acknowledged the need to do more to curb crimes against women: “PCR vans will be deployed near schools, colleges and companies that have a large population of women. Operation Durga will also be stepped up to ensure women are aware of such crimes and to teach them how to protect themselves.”

But with the police force grappling with low manpower, the success of such initiatives remains to be seen. As per official records, as of January 26, 2018, Faridabad Police was short of 1,849 personnel. It has a sanctioned strength of 5,060 personnel.

For women personnel, the force has 528 sanctioned posts, of which 290 are filled.

At the same time, incidents of crimes against women in Faridabad have been steadily climbing over the last three years — 91 rape cases were registered in 2015, 96 in 2016 and 138 in 2017. Cases of sexual harassment have also doubled in the last three years, with 65 being reported in 2017, up from 35 in 2015. Cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have also increased from 106 in 2015 to 126 in 2016, and 153 in 2017.

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On January 15 at 2 pm, two days after the Faridabad incident, a student at a Farrukhnagar college was waiting for an autorickshaw at Khandewla Modh when two men allegedly forced her inside their car and sped away. The men allegedly parked the vehicle at an isolated area and took turns raping her. An hour later, they released her, naked, in the middle of the road. It was only when she pleaded with them that they returned her clothes before fleeing the spot. For two days, she told no one. But when the accused approached her at the same junction again two days later, she went to the police.

Just like the first case, the spot from where she was allegedly abducted is a busy one, with shared autorickshaws picking up passengers, vendors selling vegetables, and the local office of a political party.

The closest police post is at Haily Mandi located 1 km away, while the closest police station is the Pataudi police station, 5 km away. CCTV cameras, despite multiple stores and shops, are nowhere in sight.

Unlike the Faridabad case, however, this one was cracked within hours of the FIR being filed. Police said one of the accused, who knew the woman, was arrested first, followed by his accomplice. Both are residents of Khera Khurampur, a village in Farrukhnagar.

A student at a Farrukhnagar college was waiting for an autorickshaw at Khandewla Modh when two men allegedly forced her inside their car and sped away.(Express photo: Manoj Kumar)

As per National Crime Records Bureau data, the woman is one of hundreds to be allegedly sexually assaulted by someone she was acquainted with. NCRB records show that of the 1,187 rape cases registered in Haryana in 2016, the victim was known to the perpetrator in 1,172 cases. In 549 of the cases, the accused was a neighbour.

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In Gurgaon district, home to hundreds of MNCs, rape cases have remained steady — with 139 cases in 2016 and 137 in 2017. In 2018, nine cases have been registered so far.

Six days after the student’s alleged gangrape, a 22-year-old woman from Bengal was raped while returning home to South City I from Tigra village.

The Samaspur-Tigra road is only a few kilometers from the upscale Golf Course Road. (Express photo: Manoj Kumar)

Police said the incident took place around 11 pm, when the woman’s husband stopped the car by the side of the Samaspur-Tigra road to relieve himself. According to police, five men in two cars allegedly stopped their vehicle near the woman’s car and got into a scuffle with her family.

As four of them held back her relatives, a fifth allegedly dragged her out of the car, took her behind haystacks lined by the side of the road and sexually assaulted her. The woman’s husband noted down their car details, resulting in their arrest within days.

The Indian Express visited the spot and found a narrow, unlit and deserted road next to an office building and adjacent to the high-profile Golf Course Extension road, which, although well lit, remains isolated at night.

The Samaspur-Tigra road is only a few kilometers from the upscale Golf Course Road. The closest police station is the only women’s police station in the city, located 3.5 km away. The Golf Course Extension road, Commissioner of Police Sandeep Khirwar acknowledged, is a troublesome stretch: “It is an area of concern because it is very isolated. We are trying to step up patrolling along the stretch and intend to use vehicles, especially motorcycles, given to us by some private companies, for this purpose.”

Much like their counterparts in Faridabad, Gurgaon Police are also struggling to combat crimes and apprehend suspects, despite being short by over 2,000 personnel.

According to official data, as of January 31, 2018, Gurgaon Police had 6,661 sanctioned posts of which 4,318 had been filled. The vacant posts include that of the joint commissioner, three DCPs, and 488 head constables. For women police officers, the district has 682 sanctioned posts, of which 425 are filled.

Khirwar, however, said more police personnel are expected to complete training and join the force in the coming months. “We are expecting an augmentation of the police force, with 500 additional personnel expected after March 31,” he said.

Street lighting, however, is a problem that could take longer to tackle across the district. Undertaking installation of new lights is likely to commence “four-five months” later, officials said.

“We have formulated a two-phase plan to ensure better lighting across the city, and have marked out dark spots as part of that. In the first phase, we will replace existing streetlights with LED lights. This should be completed in the next four-five months. After that, we will take up areas where lights need to be installed afresh,” said

V Umashankar, Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and CEO of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).

“This needs to be a phased out process… as all of this needs to be centrally controlled and integrated. If we do it on a piecemeal basis, then it is possible some areas will not be integrated,” he said.

Similarly, electronic surveillance of the entire city, officials said, is likely to take over a year. As of now, only 61 CCTV cameras have been installed at 15 locations between Mini Secretariat, the Section 4/7 junction, and Sadar Bazaar.

A project, however, has been undertaken by the GMDA to ensure coverage of the entire city. “Gurgaon has a diverse population; When there are multiple faultlines, the problems are also more. It is also a border area with many important roads and a professional population that functions round-the-clock. There are a whole range of issues in controlling crime in a growing city, but we are trying to tackle things and clamp down on crime,” Khirwar said.

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A look at NCRB data from 2016 reveals that the rate of crimes against women in Gurgaon and Faridabad are reflective of a wider trend in Haryana, which recorded 1,187 rape cases under the IPC that year. These included 996 cases of rape and 191 of gangrape. As many as 518 victims were minors. Crimes against women have been rising steadily since 2014, with 9,010 cases under the IPC and Special and Local Laws (SLL) being registered in 2014; 9,511 in 2015; and 9,839 in 2016.

Dispensation of justice, however, has been a slower process. Of 20,620 cases of crimes against women that reached courts in 2016, as many as 15,017 were carried over from the previous year. In 2016, trials were completed in 4,180 cases.

Conviction rate in 2016, NCRB data reveals, stood at 13.4% — 560 were convicted, while 3,620 were acquitted or discharged.

Experts in the field of violence against women said the figures underline the need for systematic changes. “Panchayats need to be trained and discussions must be held in schools,” said Rishi Kant, a member of Shakti Vahini, an NGO that works for violence against women. “The police force must be reformed and officers must be trained so that they are in line with the law. Practices like making women give statements in an open court, which still prevail in many parts of the state, must be stopped.”