New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stressed the imperative to instil fear in the minds of goons committing crimes against women, remarking that a perception persists that women remain unsafe in the capital, particularly within specific vulnerable pockets.

The top court voiced the observation whilst presiding over a suo motu matter initiated following recent sexual assault cases across the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).

"We have to work together. We must ensure that every woman in Delhi-NCR should feel safe even at 11 pm, whether travelling on the roads or the metro," a bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran noted.

"What is important is to prevent a crime, not what you do after a crime is committed," the bench stated, underscoring that law enforcement agencies must cultivate a strong deterrent amongst anti-social elements prone to committing such offences.

The bench, which was conducting proceedings under the suo motu title 'In Re: Recent rape incidents in Delhi NCR', remarked that "rape is something which is not at all acceptable to any society".

The apex court had previously taken suo motu cognisance on September 28 after reviewing media reports concerning atrocities against minor girls and women across Delhi-NCR, observing that the series of incidents pointed to a systemic failure on the part of policing authorities.

The court took note of multiple incidents, including the alleged gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park in Delhi, the gang-rape and murder of a teenage girl in the Swaroop Nagar locality of the capital, and the sexual assault of a minor inside a moving sleeper bus that law enforcement failed to stop despite the vehicle covering a distance exceeding 47 km from Greater Noida to Delhi.

PTI