delhi

Updated: Apr 03, 2017 09:30 IST

The national capital has failed consistently to protect its women from rape, and nearly half the victims are children — some as young as two.

Also, Delhi Police crime data show alarming instances of suspected rapists below 18, most of them teenagers caught for the first time.

Profiles of 3,973 rape victims show 1,715 girls were raped in two years: 2015 and till October 15, 2016. More than 250 of the 3,757 alleged rapists were teenagers. And 227 girls below seven were raped.

This relationship between age and crime against women is one of disturbing findings by Hindustan Times in a detailed analysis of the police data on rape victims and rapists.

A wave of protests after the fatal gang rape of a paramedical student on a bus in the city in December 2012 jolted many in the country out of apathy and forced Parliament to enact stiffer penalties, including the death sentence.

But five years later, nothing has changed. Every four hours a rape is reported in New Delhi. A woman is molested every two hours.

Women most vulnerable to rape are between 18 and 25 years, according to the data.

HT’s findings show that, contrary to belief, it isn’t “outsiders” or migrants arrested for rape. More than 80% of men held were from the city.

The analysis shows most rapists are school dropouts or illiterate. Only 2% of rapists were those with a college education or a postgraduate degree.

The rise in rapes over the years led police to identify unsafe spots for women in city; register every case without delay; and induct more woman officers into the force.

CCTV cameras were placed at areas so-called unsafe zones. To ensure that justice is not delayed, police have to ensure that a charge-sheet is filed within 20 days. Photographs of “habitual sex offenders” are uploaded on the police website.

The efforts are commendable but not failsafe. In 2012, there were 706 rape cases; but rose sharply to 2,155 last year.