Supreme Court judge Justice JB Pardiwala on Monday asked Delhi Police to instil fear among goons to prevent rape incidents. He said, "You need to create fear in the mind of a man who is prone to commit offences." The court urged police to increase surveillance to protect women everywhere.
Justice JB Pardiwala calls for stronger surveillance at public places and says women must feel safe using roads, public transport and other vulnerable spaces
A Supreme Court judge on Monday asked Delhi Police to instil fear among goons to prevent recurring incidents of rapes in Delhi-NCR and dispel the notion that the place was unsafe for women.
"You need to create fear in the mind of a man who is prone to commit offences. Unless and until you don't create that fright or fear in the goon or anti-social element, you will not be in a position to prevent the commission of such offences," Justice J.B. Pardiwala told solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre. The Delhi Police operate under the Union home ministry.
The court asked the Delhi Police to focus on intensifying surveillance and patrolling at public places, including bus stands, railway and metro stations, parks, and schools and colleges, where women are more vulnerable.
"Don't let us down. Rise to the occasion. Every woman, every girl molested is our sister, our mother. It is a huge challenge for the police department. Don't allow such things to happen. Take up the challenge," Justice Pardiwala observed.
Some senior police officers were present during the hearing of the suo motu case titled "In Re: Recent rape incidents in Delhi NCR".
Mehta said the government had taken a serious view of the matter and was not treating the case as "adversarial litigation".
"We must ensure that every woman in Delhi-NCR should feel safe even at 11pm, whether travelling on the roads or the metro," the bench, which also had Justice K. Vinod Chandran, observed.
"What is important is to prevent crime, not what you do after a crime is committed," it added.
The court said the police should also inspire confidence among the general public so that they don't hesitate to lodge complaints.
"Let us try our best that these types of crimes are not committed. There appears to be a feeling that women are not safe in the city, more particularly in vulnerable pockets," the bench observed.
"Rape is something which is not at all acceptable to any society," it said, while impressing upon the police to go through the order passed by the court on September 28 in the matter.
The top court had on September 28 taken suo motu cognisance of reports of crimes against minor girls and women across Delhi-NCR and directed the police to survey vulnerable pockets and step up surveillance.
It had directed the Delhi police commissioner, chief secretary and other officials to furnish data on the corrective steps being taken to curb "concerns regarding the safety and security of public spaces in and around the city".
The bench had said the harrowing account of a 17-year-old victim of the alleged gang rape at Aastha Kunj Park in Delhi was a stark reminder of the persistent vulnerabilities faced by women and children in spaces that ought to be safe and accessible to all.
It had also flagged the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl inside a moving sleeper bus, "which law enforcement agencies failed to intercept while it traversed a distance of over 47km from Greater Noida to Delhi", drawing a parallel to the 2012 Nirbhaya case.
The top court had said the right to live with dignity and free from the fear of violence was an intrinsic facet of the fundamental guarantee of life and personal liberty enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution.