Majority of molestation cases reported from ‘shift schools’: DLSA

There is a need to start parent-teacher meetings in government schools to make people aware of such incidents.

The Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DLSA) on Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that according to crime mapping data, the majority of molestation cases in the city were reported from “shift schools” — boys who studied in the second shift in government schools molested girls coming out from the earlier shift.

“There is a need to start parent-teacher meetings in government schools to make people aware of such incidents,” DLSA member secretary Dharmesh Sharma told the bench of Justices B D Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul during a hearing on a PIL to curb eve-teasing in the city.

Commenting on the “unfortunate” situation, the court has now directed the government to find out if incidents of crimes against women had reduced after the government began its gender sensitisation drive last year. “Going by newspaper reports… these incidents have not been curbed,” the court observed.

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The Delhi Police had, in April this year, conducted crime mapping of the city to highlight areas where molestation, harassment and rape cases were being reported. They had found 44 “red flag areas” in eight districts of the capital.

The court also asked if action had been taken to reduce crimes in the red flagged zones. “Have your measures brought any results?” the court said.
DLSA and Delhi Police, however, argued that awareness campaigns had led to a rise in reporting of such crimes.

The court refused to accept the argument. “We have heard this refrain for the past 15 years that crime has not been increasing but reporting of crime is increasing… The objective is to make sure that women feel safe in Delhi,” the court said.

The court also asked women lawyers present in the court to give their input, following which former Central government counsel Richa Kapoor informed the court that she had given a number of suggestions to tackle eve-teasing in the city.

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The bench expressed its disappointment when the officer from Crimes Against Women (CAW) cell failed to answer its query about various sexual offences. The officer claimed that the CAW cell only handled cases of marital dispute and did not have data on sexual offences.

“We believe that police is not taking this seriously. Get the DCP responsible for the cell to court on the next date,” the court said.

Advocate Gaurav Bansal, representing petitioner Nandita Dhar in the PIL, also said the status reports submitted by the government mentioned crime data from before the mapping was done.

“No steps have been taken. They are simply copying reports…,” Bansal said. Meanwhile, police said that a sociological study, which it was instructed to conduct by the Delhi High Court, of red flag areas had not been conducted as the government wanted to created a software to analyse the data. Police said the government had issued a bid and awarded the contract to PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

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“There are so many sociological experts, government bodies and NGOs in the city. Why do you need to make a software?” the court said.
“Give us data on whether measures taken in the 44 red flag areas have produced any result. Data of crime in these areas before and after the measures were implemented should also be made available,” the court said.

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