City’s unsafe parks where crime plays
NO SAFETY Public parks in Delhi have turned into havens for criminals. Hindustan Times visited many of them to find drug addicts, squatters, voyeurs and the lack of security and lights
NEWDELHI: When KS Khurana goes jogging at Picnic Hut, a huge park in north Delhi’s Ashok Vihar, he ensures he is neither carrying his mobile phone and cash, nor is he seen in company of someone holding any valuables. The 70-year-old retired additional session judge knows his life is at risk every time he enters this sprawling 22-acre park.
Khurana’s fears are not unfounded. “Two robbers once threatened to chop off my friend’s fingers if he did not part with his gold rings. This park is infested with criminals and drug addicts. I will return home unharmed if I stay empty-handed,” Khurana said.
In April, a 45-year-old journalist, Aparna Kalra, was attacked and left to die by a drug addict who attacked her in this park, maintained by Delhi Development Authority. Kalra “miraculously” recovered, but she never again visited the park, said her sister, Prachi.
Even as empty alcohol bottles and marijuana joint buds can be seen strewn across the park, there appeared to be little improvement in security. “On most days, it is just a single guard for the entire 22-acre park. It is the same situation at the neighbouring Khimman Singh Park. What do you expect?” Jatan Singh, a gardener said.
With a 16-year-old girl being allegedly gangraped inside a DDA park in nearby Shalimar Bagh last Saturday, and two cousins robbed of their mobile phones in a neighbourhood park in East of Kailash on Sunday, the city’s open spaces are gaining in notoriety. The police have questioned 200 people in the case and said identifying the suspects was difficult because there were no CCTVS or light in the park. A visit by Hindustan Times to some prominent parks and interaction with visitors threw up numerous anecdotes of violence.
The primary reasons for parks turning into safe haven for criminals and drug addicts are their huge size and lack of sufficient security guards. The broken walls, multiple entrances and broken/stolen lights add to the lack of security, said both the visitors and the officials responsible for managing them.
Of the 15,750 small and big parks in Delhi, 15,000 are maintained by the municipal bodies and the rest by the DDA. Barely 1,000 of these parks — only those which are over three acres in size — have security guards.
“Since most of the small parks are located in colonies, the neighbourhood guards and Residents’ Welfare Associations ensure safety these during night,” explained an official with the north corporation. It is the Dda-run parks, almost all of which are over three acres in size, where most notorious crimes are reported from.
Armed with sticks, the guards can do little. The 170-acre Sanjay Lake Park is guarded by a maximum 10 men at any given time, said Mahipal Singh, a guard. “My own life is under threat, so how can I ensure visitors’ safety? There are scores of criminals in this park. Many of them are armed with blades, knives and even guns. Even policemen advise me to remain safe,” said Mahipal.
Mahipal said these criminals will target anyone, but specially couples, from whom they can extort money to fund their alcohol or drugs. Those who are unaware of the park’s notoriety often become victims of sexual abuse, he said. “Youngsters from the adjoining colonies wait in the bushes. When they see couples getting intimate, they record it on their mobile phones before jumping out of the bushes and begin robbing them,” said Mahipal.
He said the couples are given a choice: either part with their valuables and cash or the woman extends sexual favours. “Since these couples meet without informing their families, they oblige one way or the other. There have been occasions when women are raped, but they remain mum,” said Mahipal.
“I don’t allow women into the park after 6 pm. Men can enter at their own risk,” said Mahipal who has seen it all in just six months of his job. Last June, a 20-year-old man was allegedly caught molesting a minor girl in this park. The suspect was lynched by an unidentified group of men, whom guards had Two cousin brothers are chased and murdered by a group of youths, including a juvenile, in Japanese Park in outer Delhi’s Rohini A 45-year-old journalist is attacked and left half dead by a drug addict in Picnic Hut in north Delhi’s Ashok Vihar.
She has stopped visiting it now
described as drug addicts.
Raviraj Sharma, a frequent visitor to this park, said flashings are common here. “Men remove all their clothes and spring out of bushes or the lake when a woman passes by alone,” said Sharma.
Monika Tanwar, an elderly resident of nearby Mayur Vihar and a regular visitor to the park, said young women who are aware of these happenings keep their faces masked with dupattas. “The criminals try to capture their bad act (flashing) and the women in the same video frame,” she explains.
At Rohini’s Swarn Jayanti Park, popularly known as Japanese Park, is notorious for murders, but promoted as a ‘family park’. Young groups are commonly seen here using bluetooth devices to play A 20-year-old man allegedly molests a minor girl inside Sanjay Lake Park in east Delhi. The man is lynched by unidentified people at the park A nine-year-old boy was found murdered inside a DDA park in south Delhi’s Pul Prahladpur. He had been stabbed multiple times
loud music. On Tuesday, a group of schoolboys was watching porn videos, unfazed by women visitors passing by.
Elsewhere in the park, two youngsters perched themselves atop a tree so that they could catch a young couple’s intimate moments. “Some youths have the audacity to carry binoculars with them,” said a woman gardener. Such is the notoriety that the local police are forced to put up a prominent notice, warning couples about extortionists.
Madhur Verma, Delhi Police spokesperson, said that apart from foot and cycle patrolling in these parks, the police also conduct security audits. “We had sent our audit reports on the Buddha Jayanti Park and said killers dump dead bodies inside because of low height of walls. They A 16-year-old girl is gangraped by three unidentified men in Sheeshmahal Park in north Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh.
increased the wall height and such crimes decreased,” said Verma.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation, meanwhile, claimed they were doing their bit by working on the concept of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). “To improve security at these places, we are working to reduce the height of the wall to four feet and have wire fence over that so that one can see what his happening inside, trim the hedges, and increase footfall by providing open gyms and playing areas,” said a senior SDMC official.
At the Picnic Hut park, the hedges near the attack spot had been trimmed immediately after the crime. “But the hedges grew back in no time. I don’t think that is a solution,” said Khurana.