Few women dare to complain against harassment: Statistics

It is no secret that women are harassed while on move in Delhi but it appears that many of them prefer not to complain to police, if one goes by government statistics.

Only 41 cases of harassment of women in various modes of transport were registered in the past three-and-a-quarter years in Delhi with woman flyers topping the list by reporting 15 incidents -- 12 harassed on aircraft and three in taxi.

Women air travellers are followed by women travelling in buses, who registered 10 cases during this period.

A total of 50 people were arrested in these cases between January 1, 2009 and March 31, 2012, Minister of State for Home Affairs Jitender Singh informed Rajya Sabha in a written reply today.

Of the 41 cases, three cases were compromised while court quashed one. One was convicted in 2009, while another was acquitted in 2011.

Except for two cases which are still under investigation, all the 33 other cases are pending trial.

The year 2010 saw the highest of 13 cases registered in this regard, while 2009 saw 12 cases. Last year witnessed 11 such cases and the first three months of this year saw five cases, including three from air travellers.

The statistics showed that air travellers were more confident in registering complaints. A senior police official said most of the cases from airport were related to unruly passengers harassing air hostesses.

Of the 41 cases, 15 cases were registered with IGI police station, which again emphasis the point that flyers were more confident in dealing with such cases.