Theft has emerged as the most common crime in New Delhi and Mumbai.
Mobile phones were most commonly lost in Mumbai and Delhi followed by luggage and theft of wallet, purse or cash. This has emerged in a public survey conducted by Nielsen India Pvt Ltd and Commonwealth Health Rights Initiative. A majority of those affected by theft, mostly from middle and low-income families, in both Delhi and Mumbai, chose not to report it to the police.
Of the 650 cases of theft reported in Delhi, only 336 were reported to the police, while in Mumbai only 383 of the 874 theft cases were reported to respective police stations. The primary reason, cited in the survey — 65 per cent in Delhi and 69 per cent in Mumbai — for not reporting to the police, was to avoid getting into legal hassles. The crime victimisation and safety perception survey, conducted between July 2014 and June 2015, indicates that 85 per cent of Delhi citizens and 71 from Mumbai thought the police would not entertain their complaint. What is a cause for concern is that the survey indicates that 71 per cent of Mumbaikars and 54 per Delhiites did not think that police could do anything about the theft.
“There is an urgent need for police departments to address the long-standing obstructions and violations by police in registering FIRs. Preventing, refusing, and delaying FIR registration impedes access to justice at the very beginning,” said Advocate Vishal Sonawane, who takes up cases of theft in lower courts.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Atulchandra Kulkarni said, “Earlier, police officers were taken to task if a high number of complaints were being registered, but now we encourage them. There is no question of not registering an FIR. In fact, as the population of the city is growing, so is the social unrest. We as the police force too have to grow.”
Mumbai police is taking several steps and efforts to help people come forward to register their complaints, said Mr. Kulkarni. One of the major challenges that people face in Mumbai is with respect to the jurisdiction of police stations, and which police station they should approach.
Mr. Kulkarni also said that the 103 helpline number for women is being further strengthened to make it more effective. Citing reasons why low income groups are most affected by theft and also don’t register their complaints with the police, Mr. Kulkarni said, “It may be because what is lost is also low valued, and therefore they are reluctant to come forward to lodge their complaints. The other thing is that they stay in small make shift houses and slums which are more prone to thefts where some part of a scooter is lost or a cellphone is lost.”
Advocate Y P Singh, former IPS officer said, “People from low income groups do not go the police because they don’t register their complaints. The police are short staffed and do not have enough infrastructure to go looking for a cellphone. So they converge a ‘theft’ complaint into a ‘lost’ complaint. They manipulate the facts and declare a theft to be lost either carelessly or either being forgotten somewhere. Therefore people are discouraged to come forward and register their complaints with the police.”
In Mumbai, only
383 of the 874 theft cases were reported to respective police stations
