Delhi’s crime graph surging

The month of May began with a spate of five murders on the first day followed by a double murder in a south Delhi locality on the second.

The crime rate in the national capital is one of the highest in the country with 357.2 cases per one lakh people compared to the national average of 167.7, the National Crime Records Bureau statistics revealed.

According to official figures, the city witnessed 134 murders in the first three months of the year, while 119 cases of attempt on life were reported during the period.

The number of vehicle thefts were 2,244 till March, while the figure stood at 8039 last year. The rate of vehicle theft is much higher in Delhi compared to the national rate of 8.1.

The figures for other crimes in the city this year till March 31 were 107 rapes, 134 molestations, 135 robberies, 271 snatchings and 479 hurt cases.

“In a most of the murder cases that took place this year, police could not have intervened and prevented the crime. However, we have cracked majority of them. Delhi has a floating population and that could be one of the reasons for the crimes,” a senior police official said.

A number of murders during the past three months were triggered by trivial issues like refusal to keep empty milk containers, brawl under the influence of alcohol in another and employer refusing to lend money.

Sudden provocation seems to be the motive behind majority of the murders and attempts to murder cases while personal enmity and property related disputes were the other major reasons, the official said.

In 2007, there were 467 murders compared to 462 in 2006 and 499 attempts to murder cases as against 493 during the same period.

Statistics revealed that 14 per cent of the murders in 2007 were due to sudden provocation, 11 per cent due to property dispute and ten per cent due to old enmity.

According to Delhi Police Annual Report for 2007, 83 per cent of the victims were from the poor strata while 16 per cent belonged to the middle class.

A whopping 42 per cent of the victims were below 25 years, while 51 per cent belonged to the 25-50 years age bracket. Seventy-five per cent of those murdered were men.

Delhi’s two police districts also figures among the list of 15 police districts in the country where more than 10,000 IPC cases were registered in an year, according to the latest NCRB figures.

While the north-west district ranked 11th in the list with 11,146 cases in 2006, the south district came 12th with 10,854 cases.