Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Oct 5: The Supreme Court on Monday said there was a need to create fear among those who commit crimes against women, observing that there was a perception that women were not safe in Delhi-NCR, particularly in vulnerable areas.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran made the observations while hearing a suo motu case concerning recent rape incidents in Delhi-NCR.

“We have to work together. We must ensure that every woman in Delhi-NCR should feel safe even at 11 pm whether travelling on the roads or the metro,” the bench said.

The court stressed that preventing crime was more important than dealing with its consequences after an offence had been committed. It said the police needed to create fear among “goons and anti-social elements” who were prone to committing such offences.

The bench, hearing the case titled In Re: Recent rape incidents in Delhi NCR, said rape was “something which is not at all acceptable to any society”.

The Supreme Court had on September 28 taken suo motu cognisance of media reports concerning crimes against minor girls and women across Delhi-NCR, observing that the incidents pointed to a systematic failure on the part of law enforcement authorities.

The court had taken cognisance of the alleged gangrape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park in Delhi, the gangrape and murder of a teenage girl in the Swaroop Nagar area of the capital, and the sexual assault of a minor girl inside a moving sleeper bus.

In the bus case, law enforcement agencies allegedly failed to intercept the vehicle despite it travelling more than 47 km from Greater Noida to Delhi.