50% people feel women are unsafe in Delhi, 21% in Mumbai: Study

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Fifty percent people in Delhi feel women are not safe in the national capital, while 21 percent feels women are unsafe in Mumbai, according to the 'State of Policing and Law and Order' report by Praja Foundation.

In 2017-18, 2,207 rape cases were registered in Delhi, up 3 percent year-on-year (YoY). While reported molestation cases against women has gone down by 10 percent for the same period, the number of molestation cases stood at 3,367.

Fifty-two percent of the total rape cases in 2017-18 were reported under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

A total of 5,757 kidnapping cases were registered in Delhi in FY18, and 65 percent of the victims were women. In case of abduction, 496 cases were registered in the same period with 63 percent of the victims being women.

The survey, based on responses of 28,624 households across Delhi, found that 40 percent of people feel unsafe in Delhi, while only 14 percent feel unsafe in Mumbai.

The number of cases registered under the POCSO Act has increased to 1,137 in 2017-18 from 991 in 2016-17. The highest number of POCSO cases (143) in 2017-18 were registered in the Outer District of Delhi.

To ensure safety of women in the state, Delhi Police has started policing initiatives and self-defence training for women. "The force is committed to ensure the safety of citizens. We have launched several community policing initiatives and have trained over two lakh women and girls under our self-defence programme in 2017, for which we also entered the Limca Book of Records. Heinous crimes like rape and murder have seen a decline over the last couple of years," a senior officer from the Delhi Police told PTI.