Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of rising rape cases in Delhi-NCR

The Supreme Court on Sep 28 took suo motu cognisance of recent cases of rape and sexual assault reported in Delhi-NCR, including the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a park near Delhi's Kalkaji Mandir and the alleged sexual assault of a minor inside a moving sleeper bus.

A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran expressed concern over the recurring incidents of sexual offences in the National Capital Region and directed the apex court registry to register a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue and list it for hearing.

The Justice Pardiwala-led Bench observed that the incidents, considered alongside other recent reports of sexual offences across Delhi-NCR, raised serious concerns regarding the functioning of law-enforcement and public administrative authorities responsible for ensuring public safety.

The Supreme Court stressed that the right to live with dignity and without fear of violence forms an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

It further observed that public spaces, including parks, roads, buses, metro stations, subways and footbridges, cannot be allowed to become high-risk zones because of inadequate lighting, surveillance, patrolling or other preventable administrative deficiencies.

The top court called for a measurable response from the authorities and stressed the need to fix accountability on those entrusted with the prevention of crime, maintenance of public order and protection of vulnerable persons.

The Supreme Court's intervention comes amid a series of sexual offences reported in Delhi and the adjoining National Capital Region in recent weeks.

In the latest incident that triggered concern, a 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three men posing as policemen at a park near Kalkaji Mandir in Delhi.

According to police, the girl had gone to Kalkaji Mandir with a male friend on September 22 and later entered a nearby park. The three accused allegedly approached them, claimed to be police personnel, threatened them and took their mobile phones.

The survivor later told police that two of the men took her towards an isolated part of the park, where she was allegedly sexually assaulted. She also alleged that one of the accused, identified as Asif, displayed a firearm while threatening her.

Following a PCR call, police reached the spot. Asif was subsequently apprehended after an encounter and sustained a gunshot injury. Efforts to trace the other two accused were underway.

The Supreme Court's suo moto proceedings also cover the alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl inside a moving sleeper bus in the Greater Noida-Delhi region.

The incident, reported in August, involved a girl from Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri who had travelled towards Noida and later boarded a sleeper bus after missing her stop.

The driver and conductor of the bus allegedly sexually assaulted her and later abandoned her near Kashmere Gate in Delhi.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and issued notices to the Police Commissioners of Delhi and Gautam Buddha Nagar and the Superintendent of Police, Mainpuri, seeking reports on the investigation and compensation, if any, provided to the survivor.

Police arrested the driver and conductor and seized the sleeper bus for forensic examination. Investigators also collected CCTV footage along the route to establish the movement of the vehicle and the sequence of events.

“Except for the headline, no changes have been made to the story by Education Post staff.”