Lack of fast track courts reason for high stalking cases, says DCW chief to Rajnath Singh in letter

With the latest NCRB report claiming that Delhi’s increasing number of stalking cases reported has earned it an infamous title of Stalking capital, Delhi Commision for Women chief Swati Malliwal has written a letter to the Home Minister on Wednesday. The number of stalking cases reported which were 541 in the year 2014 doubled to 1,124 in 2015.

Malliwal has put the ball in the court of the judiciary, stating that lack of speedy justice in such cases discourages women from reporting such crimes, and consequently the perpetrators of the crime feel they can get away.

Also read:Maharashtra tops the list of crimes against women: NCRB Data

“We get so many complaints of this nature. However, the commission feels that after the initial registration of FIRs, the victim falls into the trap of systemic rigmarole. Justice is often delayed due to the high pendency of cases and delays in investigation and forensic reports.

“This has created an atmosphere in Delhi that has emboldened the perpetrators of crimes against women who have no fear of the system. Further, there is a high rate of pendency in forensic laboratories. The lack of sufficient number of fast track courts has also lead to high pendency in the courts,” she added, as reported by Hindustan Times.

These are some of the reasons quoted Malliwal in her letter which show the increase in number of cases. She further added that these are also the reasons why perpetrator feels confident and encouraged enough to commit such crimes against women. The lack of fast track courts only results into thousands of cases pending in Delhi court.

Also read: Delhi still the rape capital, but more women coming forward to report cases: Report

The most recent example of the amount of time it takes for a stalking case to get verdict from the court is of a woman who had filed a case on February 2012 against a van driver who had subjected her to obscene behaviour. That case went on for four long years, and the Delhi Court gave it's verdict recently.

Feature Image Credit: Indian Express