Sexual assault and associated factors among the cases reported in a tertiary care hospital of Delhi.

Abstract

Sexual assault is said to be an under-reported and under-researched crime worldwide. The high number of cases of sexual assault reported in India is the tip of the iceberg. We did this study to understand various factors associated with this crime. We did a retrospective analysis of 312 forensic examination reports of alleged sexual offenders, available from a tertiary care hospital of Delhi from January 2014 to December 2016. Of the 312 victims of sexual assault, 62.9% were adults and 37.1% minors. The time of assault was mentioned in only 73 cases. Among these, about two-thirds of cases (60.3%) occurred during daytime. Among the 213 cases where the reporting time of the crime was mentioned, only 35.7% of cases were reported within 24 hours of the crime. Around 92% offenders were known to the victims. More than one-third of sexual assaults were against minors and in a majority of instances the alleged offenders were known to the victims. A major delay in reporting the crime was observed when the victim was known to the perpetrator.