Delhi Horror: National Capital recorded 454 murder cases in 2021 alone, highest in the country

By: Yash Gupte

According to the police, the woman who died after her two-wheeler was hit by a car in outer Delhi, also had a female friend along with her on the scooter, who suffered injuries in the accident.

The recent hit and run accident in New Delhi has sent a wave of shock across the whole nation. A 23 year old woman was killed after the scooter she was riding on was hit by a speeding car that allegedly dragged her for around 12 km. The victim, Anjali, worked at wedding functions as a support staff and was going back to her home on the early hours of January 1, 2023 in the Sultanpuri area on her scooter.

Recent updates in the Delhi accident case have revealed the woman was riding her scooter with a friend when the tragedy occurred. According to the police, the woman who died after her two-wheeler was hit by a car in outer Delhi, also had a female friend along with her on the scooter, who suffered injuries in the accident. The victim, however, remained pinned beneath the car and was dragged 12 km from Sultanpuri to Kanjhawala, according to the police, who also claimed that the other female ran away from the scene of the accident.

The Delhi Police located the vehicle and launched an investigation after the accident. Five persons were detained when they were able to find the car's owner. Deepak Khanna (age 26), Amit Khanna (age 25), Krishan (age 27), Mithun (age 26), and Manoj Mittal (27) have been named as the arrested suspects. The court on Monday granted Delhi Police three-day custody of the five men. As per the FIR, the accused fled from the spot as they were aware that they hit the girl on a scooter. The FIR further states that the car was being driven by Deepak, who was in an intoxicated state. Police are waiting for the autopsy report to rule out any sexual assault on the victim.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 29,272 cases of murder were registered in the country during 2021, showing a marginal increase of 0.3 percent over 2020 (29,193 cases). In 2021, the conviction rate in murder cases was only 42 percent. There was a decline of around 2 percent in conviction rate as compared to 2020 (44 percent).

*Metropolitan Cities- Cities with more than 2 million population (based on 2011 census)

The total number of murder cases registered in metropolitan cities in 2021 was 1,955 compared to 1,849 cases in 2020. At 454, Delhi reported the highest number of murder cases in 2021, followed by Mumbai (162) and Chennai with 161 murder cases. Among the four major metropolitan cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata), Kolkata reported relatively less number of murder cases compared to other three cities. Kolkata reported 45 cases of murder in 2021. The number was lowest in last five years. While Kolkata reported the lowest number of murder cases in last five years, Ahmedabad recorded maximum cases (97) in 2021 in last five years.

Speaking of motive for murders, 23 such cases in the National Capital Region were reported due to love affairs, the highest in the country, followed by Patna with 21 such cases. The maximum victims (869) in murder cases in metropolitan cities were from the age group of 18-30 years followed by the age group of 30-45 years. The total number of people murdered in this age group in metropolitan cities was 725. Maximum number (16) of senior citizens (60 years and above) were murdered in Delhi and Ahmedabad in 2021.

National Capital has the highest crime cases in the country. The low conviction rate (42 percent) in murder cases shows that in more than half of the cases, the accused are not convicted due to reasons like lack of evidence. This results in failure of delivery of justice. The 1,955 cases of murder reported in the metropolitan cities are just the tip of the iceberg as number of unreported crimes remain high.