INDIA: Alert, If You Are Home Alone in Delhi

NEW DELHI (The Times of India), October 11, 2007: With a murder taking place everyday for the past two years, Delhi has not become any safer for citizens at home, especially the elderly who live alone. While the murder rate increased marginally from 442 in 2005 to 452 in 2006, Delhi held on to its unsafe image with over 490 attempts to murder cases. Violent crimes were often committed by known persons, with enmity, provocation and dispute being the motive for 48% of murders. While the accused were arrested in 77% of the cases, crimes against senior citizens continued with 17 being killed in their homes last year. Despite registration with police, many crimes against the elderly remained unsolved. Cases in point are the murders of twin sisters in Vasant Kunj in 2003, the Khoslas in 2005, and a 75-year-old woman in Prasad Nagar last year. Delhi Police’s biggest initiative to make homes safe — the servant verification drive — remains a failure. In 2006, the domestic help was the main accused in six murders, apart from three cases of robbery. All these cases — like the killing of mother-daughter duo Swarna and Anuratha Mahajan at Siddhartha Enclave and that of Devraj Grover and his wife at Deshbandhu Gupta Road — had attracted wide media coverage. Most Delhiites are not careful. Though they are aware of the dangers of letting a stranger into the house, they often open their almirahs in front of delivery boys or maintenance staff. Also most of them are not proactive enough to install safety equipment despite the low cost. While the beat constable undoubtedly has an important role to play in preventing crime, in the end, it’s people who are responsible for their safety. Simple steps like providing photographs and addresses of their servants to local police, installing safety gadgets like magic eye, grills on doors and windows and calling up senior officers if the beat constable plays hard-to-get will make Delhi safe again. Copyright © 2007 Times Internet Limited.