New Delhi, February 23: A 19-year-old girl hailing from Chhattisgarh was raped allegedly by her neighbour in south Delhi, police said today.
The incident took place at Anand Niketan area in Dhaula Kuan on Sunday and the accused, identified as Sanjay, has been arrested, a senior police officer said.
The victim, who works as a caretaker, was staying with her elder sister in Delhi. She was sleeping in her room when Sanjay barged into her room and locked it from outside.
“He assaulted her sexually. Hearing the commotion, the victim’s sister rushed to the room and called police. Sanjay was arrested,” the official said.
“Sanjay used to eve-tease the woman and tried to befriend her. However, she refused after which he decided to take revenge on her,” he said, adding that the victim was taken to Safdurjung hospital for a medical examination where sexual assault was confirmed.
Around 40 rape cases were reported in the national capital this year so far. The city has witnessed a sharp increase in rape and molestation cases last year since 2007.
In 2010, the city witnessed 489 rape incidents, including the infamous Dhaula Kuan rape and Mongolpuri, as against 459 in 2009. While in 2006, the number of such cases were 609, there was a drop in 2007 which recorded 581 cases. In 2008, it further dipped to 466.
Almost similar was the case with molestation cases in the capital in these years but it showed an increase in 2010 to 585 from the previous year’s 532. While 2008 had 597 cases, there were 835 incidents in 2007 and 713 in 609.
In over 90% of such cases, the accused were known to victims.
In 46% of the rape cases reported last year, the accused were relatives or friends while 45% were neighbours.
–Agencies