A young woman from TIkri recently made headlines when she fought off a juvenile trying to snatch her mobile phone in south-east Delhi’s Badarpur. A video of the September 4 incident, which has since gone viral, shows the woman grabbing the snatcher by his T-shirt and fighting him till he drops the device and flees.
Not everyone can show so much alertness and courage in such a situation, said a senior police officer, highlighting the spate of snatching incidents reported in the Capital in the recent past.
An average of 26 snatchings have been reported every day in the Capital till July this year even as the Delhi police await the city government’s approval to a proposal moved last year to create separate sections in the Indian Penal Code and bring about an anti-snatching law with stringent punishment for the offence, said the officer.
Sources told The Hindu that the Delhi Police's legal cell last moved the proposal in October 2021 but the city government has not forwarded it to the Lieutenant-Governor for his approval, following which it will be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for clearance.
The senior police officer said, “We have sent frequent communications to the Delhi government regarding the proposal and have also amended it several times in the past few months but it is still pending consideration.” A similar proposal sent in 2017 was turned down by the Delhi government, which thought no such amendment was required at that time, the officer said.
Longer jail term
Currently, snatchers are booked under IPC Section 379 pertaining to theft and Section 356 pertaining to the use of criminal force. The maximum punishment under these provisions goes up to three years and two years, respectively. The proposal aims to add two new clauses to IPC Section 379 — 379A (snatching) and 379B (snatching and use of force) — making snatching a non-bailable offence punishable with a maximum of 14 years of rigorous imprisonment. The amendment will also make the offence triable by sessions courts instead of a magistrate's court.
Once added, Section 379A will allow a convict to be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term of at least five years, which may extend up to 10 years, along with a fine of ₹25,000. Similarly, under Section 379B, an offender will be punished with rigorous imprisonment for at least 10 years, which may go up to 14 years and a fine of ₹25,000.
Law in place in Haryana
In 2014, Haryana became the first State to add the two sections and make snatching an offence punishable with up to 14 years of jail term.
In November last year, in view of the uptick in snatching incidents, then Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana had called for introducing separate IPC sections for the offence in the Capital.
According to recent Delhi Police data, as many as 5,024 snatching incidents were reported across the city till July 15 this year, out of which 2,908 or 57.8% of cases were solved. With 686 incidents, the North East district reported the most snatchings this year out of the 15 districts. Last year, the Capital had recorded a total of 4,468 snatching incidents across districts in the same period, the data showed.
Senior police officers said of the total PCR calls received on snatching incidents, around 30% get converted into FIRs. “Snatchers, a lot of whom are minors, mostly travel on motorbikes. While one accused rides the vehicle, the one riding pillion snatches valuables. If the number plate is clearly visible in the CCTV footage, the culprits can be nabbed the same day and the stolen items can be recovered,” an officer said.
DCP (PRO) Suman Nalwa said all districts have been sensitised to crack down on notorious snatchers in their areas. “Analysis of snatching incidents such as the place and time of the incident, the type of valuable snatched and the number of people involved is carried out in order to quickly identify and nab the culprit. Police teams are deployed at hotspots and pickets are changed every other day to track the snatchers’ routes,” Ms. Nalwa said.
