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For most rapists, their last crime wasn`t their first: Study: The Hindustan Times
New Delhi, Oct 19: As many as two-thirds of rapists may be serial offenders. A survey of undertrials and convicts in Tihar Jail shows that the majority of rapists are caught, on the average, after they`ve committed the crime for the tenth time.
New Delhi, Oct 19: As many as two-thirds of rapists may be serial offenders. A survey of undertrials and convicts in Tihar Jail shows that the majority of rapists are caught, on the average, after they've committed the crime for the tenth time.
"Some rapists get caught the fourth or fifth time, and there's one man who had raped 25 times before he was caught," says psychologist Dr Rajat Mitra who has studied criminals at Tihar for 11 years, and has interviewed between 600 and 700 rapists. "Though the statistical average is about 10, I would put that statistic on the lower side," he said.
Police Commissioner RS Gupta confirmed that most serial rapists are known to the victim. "We find that strangers are not repeat rapists. They are first-time offenders," he told HT.
"Ninety-five per cent of rapes in Delhi in 2002 were committed by persons known to the victim, whether they be family members, educators, employers, neighbours, landlord/tenant, or the milkman."
Because many crimes go unreported, data cannot be comprehensive. But in his interviews with rapists (for a project initiated by DG, prisons, Ajay Aggarwal), Dr Mitra found the time between each assault averages between two and three months. "Sometimes the rapist is so confident he chooses his next victim within half an hour," he says.
When a rapist is finally caught, it is often because of the rapist's overconfidence. Dr Mitra's research shows the rapist usually gets overconfident between his fifth and tenth crime.
"With every assault, carelessness starts to creep in," he says. "They get habituated to the crime. The fear of the law, which is a deterrent, is gone. They then don't pick up the cues from the environment which would otherwise allow them to get away with the crime."
What do the police do when they find that a rapist has committed the crime before? "If there are records of past crimes, the court can give a stiffer sentence," Gupta says.
But what if there is no previous record? "Then what can we do? The victim is unknown, the case is unregistered, it's too late to get evidence," says Gupta. "We only work with recorded cases."
"Some rapists get caught the fourth or fifth time, and there's one man who had raped 25 times before he was caught," says psychologist Dr Rajat Mitra who has studied criminals at Tihar for 11 years, and has interviewed between 600 and 700 rapists. "Though the statistical average is about 10, I would put that statistic on the lower side," he said.
Police Commissioner RS Gupta confirmed that most serial rapists are known to the victim. "We find that strangers are not repeat rapists. They are first-time offenders," he told HT.
"Ninety-five per cent of rapes in Delhi in 2002 were committed by persons known to the victim, whether they be family members, educators, employers, neighbours, landlord/tenant, or the milkman."
Because many crimes go unreported, data cannot be comprehensive. But in his interviews with rapists (for a project initiated by DG, prisons, Ajay Aggarwal), Dr Mitra found the time between each assault averages between two and three months. "Sometimes the rapist is so confident he chooses his next victim within half an hour," he says.
When a rapist is finally caught, it is often because of the rapist's overconfidence. Dr Mitra's research shows the rapist usually gets overconfident between his fifth and tenth crime.
"With every assault, carelessness starts to creep in," he says. "They get habituated to the crime. The fear of the law, which is a deterrent, is gone. They then don't pick up the cues from the environment which would otherwise allow them to get away with the crime."
What do the police do when they find that a rapist has committed the crime before? "If there are records of past crimes, the court can give a stiffer sentence," Gupta says.
But what if there is no previous record? "Then what can we do? The victim is unknown, the case is unregistered, it's too late to get evidence," says Gupta. "We only work with recorded cases."