Delhi's History of Rape

Ghastly rapes city’s undoing for long.

Dwaipayan Ghosh & Smriti Singh TNN


New Delhi: It was not the first time that Delhi woke up to a spine-chilling rape. The capital has had a long history of such crimes.
On October 6, 2003, a 17-year-old Delhi University student was gang-raped at Buddha Jayanti Park by four men of the President’s Bodyguard. Harpreet Singh and Satender Singh had raped the girl while Kuldeep Singh and Manish Kumar stood guard. A hue and cry led to the arrest of Harpreet and the others. Recently, all
four were convicted: Harpreet and Satender got life terms while Kuldeep and Manish got 10 years in jail.
The same year, another ghastly rape was reported from the Shanti Mukund Hospital in east Delhi. On September 7, a nurse on duty at the east Delhi hospital was raped in the middle of the night by a ward boy. He also gouged out her right eye and wounded the left one. The accused Bura was convicted and sentenced to life term.
Perhaps Delhi Police’s biggest failure till date has been its inability to solve the vexing Siri Fort rape case in which a Swiss national, a 35-year-old filmmaker, was abducted from outside Siri Fort Auditorium on October 3, 2003, and then raped in a moving car. The Delhi Police pressed over 10,000 of its men and the door-to-door investigation across south Delhi led to thousands being detained. Finally, a closure report was filed, with police claiming that they could not trace a single suspect.
After a lull of two years, the Dhaula Kuan gang rape case in 2005, in which a rape took place in a moving car, led policymakers to review security in the city.
On May 8, a 20-year-old DU student from Mizoram was abducted by four people in a car early in the morning. They finally dumped her near a gurdwara in south Delhi after raping her.
Five days later, one Ajit Singh Katiyar, a driver of a Noida-based call centre, was arrested amidst cries that cops were goofing up the case by failing to arrest the other accused. The court has convicted the lone accused and 14 years jail term was awarded to him. The cops though never arrested the three other accused.
In 2010, another gang rape, yet again of a girl from the northeast shocked Delhiites. The police came under scrutiny and it was alleged that a weak PCR positioning and weak understanding of English by men in the control room led to the message being flashed late.
On November 26, 2010, a young BPO employee was walking towards her home in Moti village near Dhaula Kuana early morning along with one of her colleagues after being dropped off on the main road by her cab when four persons in a vehicle abducted her and took turns to rape her. Two Haryana men, Shamshad and Usman, were arrested. The case is pending trial in a lower court. The incident had brought in a new set of guidelines for cabs.

UNSAFE ALWAYS: MAJOR RAPE CASES IN THE CAPITAL IN THE LAST DECADE

2003 BUDDHA JAYANTI PARK GANG RAPE Oct 6, 2003 | A 17-year-old DU student raped by four guards at a park near Rashtrapati Bhavan Oct 7 | Main accused Harpreet Singh, three more held STATUS | All four convicted. Harpreet and Satender Singh get life term, Kuldeep Singh and Munesh Kumar 10 years in jail.

SHANTI MUKUND HOSPITAL RAPE Sep 7, 2003 | A nurse on duty at an east Delhi hospital raped in the middle of the night by a ward boy. He also gouges out her right eye and wounds the left one STATUS | Man gets life term
SIRI FORT RAPE Oct 14, 2003 | A 35-year-old filmmaker abducted from outside Siri Fort Auditorium and raped in a moving car
STATUS | Closure report filed, with police failing to trace any suspect
2005 DHAULA KUAN GANG RAPE May 8, 2005 | A 20-year-old DU student from Mizoram abducted by four people in a car early in the morning. Dumped at a gurdwara in south Delhi after being raped May 13 | Ajit Singh Katiyar, a driver with a call centre inNoida, arrested
STATUS | Gets 14 years in jail
2010 DHAULA KUAN GANG RAPE Nov 26, 2010 | A BPO employee walking home in Moti village near Dhaula Kuan in the morning along with a colleague abducted by four people and raped Dec 2 | Shamshad and Usman held
STATUS | Case pending in trial court