Delhi is becoming scarier by the day for every single girl - be it an unknown or even an athlete. Infamously referred to as the rape capital of India owing to the spite in venomous incidents in recent years, the national capital received another blot this week.
A national-level junior kabaddi player in her teens has now alleged that a man in his 30s, identified as Naresh Dahiya, sodomised and raped her on the pretext of providing her coaching.
Recent developments claim that the man has been arrested by Delhi Police and has been slapped charges under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code as well as under various sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).
The crime happened on July 9 but has only come to light this week.
As per the complaint filed by the teenager this week, it all started at the Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi's Model Town area. The kabaddi player was made to believe by the man that he happened to be one of the coaches and would help her.
The 16-year-old girl alleged that Naresh took her to a flat in Rohini, where sedatives were laced in her drinks. It was then that she fell unconscious and was sexual assaulted.
Will Delhi get official status as the rape capital of India?
As per a data release by the Delhi Police until June 15 this year, the number of rape cases reported each year in the national capital has more than tripled over the last five years. An increase of a jawdropping 277% from 572 in 2011 to 2,155 in 2016.
Only robbery is one of the other major crimes that comes close to the increasing number of rape incidents.
Lest we mention, there are several rape cases which even go unreported.
The Nirbhaya incident in 2012 has forever changed the way Delhi is witnessed by the other states across India, by normal people and also the other countries. The spite in rape cases following that heinous incident has been absolutely alarming.
A 32% increase, to be precise, according to the Delhi Police data.
The question we ask now is what exactly are the plenty of help-lines set up for women's safety, or in that case, the Nirbhaya Fund and its plenty of promises, actually doing to help the commoners?
Using modern technology and GPS services for tracking and all are actually in no way coming to the rescue when it is needed the most. We do understand that the rape of the kabaddi player was a result of misidentification. But there are various instances where rapists make their intention known to the girl passing by and commit the deed in broad daylight.
No matter how much women police staff is deployed or CCTVs installed in every nook and corner, fact remains, the Delhi Police are absolutely failing to do the needful and nobody quite knows if ever the national capital can be declared a safe city again.
