The Capital has 2,959 identified sexual offenders since 1995, state data by Delhi Police.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Thursday unveiled the National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO) which will be accessible only to law enforcement agencies.
The Delhi Police’s list of sexual offenders is publicly available and went online in 2013. The data states that 1,684 persons in the list are convicted on charges of rape, 983 on women on assault with intent to outrage her modesty (molestation) and 292 on charges of insult to the modesty of women (eve-teasing).
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It shows that the number of persons identified as sexual offenders remained between 1 to 9 between 1995 and 2009 on all three charges and steadily increased 2010 onwards.
Pending trial
A possible reason could be “there was lesser awareness on reporting crime”, said a police officer. In 2015-18 so far, the number of offenders stands at 289, 310, 359, and 117 respectively.
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Interestingly, the number of rape, molestation, and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) cases reported since 2015 stands at 23,762 and the number of persons arrested in the cases are 23,660. However, several such cases are pending trial. “The list can only have sexual offenders who have been convicted and so far, not those who are accused,” the officer added.
A police officer who had supervised the implementation of the move as per Justice Verma Commission Recommendation recalled that the idea of putting out the list germinated after 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case.
The NCRB have listed names, photographs, addresses and fingerprint details of those convicted on charges of rape, gang rape, eve teasing and those who were accused under POSCO Act since 2005 “for investigation and monitoring purposes”.
Responding to the NCRB’s decision to keep the list accessible to law enforcement agencies, criminologist Anuja Kapur said it is a good decision because it leaves an option for the offender to reform himself.
“There are falsely convicted people as well. By putting their name out in the open, we devoid them of that option. One cannot allow people to take law in their own hands. However, preparing this list for investigation purposes is welcome initiative,” she said.