Taking suo motu cognisance of “deeply disturbing” news reports of recent cases of rape of minor girls and women in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the authorities concerned to submit a comprehensive status report on measures undertaken to ensure adequate safety and security in public places.”One cannot help but draw painful parallels to the 2012 Nirbhaya case, calling into question whether systemic law enforcement mechanisms have made any meaningful progress in the decade since then,” a Bench led by Justice JB Pardiwala said, referring to the gang-rape of a minor girl in a moving sleeper bus on her way from Greater Noida to Delhi.“The harrowing account given by the 17-year-old victim of the alleged gang-rape at Aastha Kunj Park in Delhi is a stark reminder of the persistent vulnerabilities faced by women and children in spaces that ought to be safe and accessible to all. The safety concerns emerging from this incident, however, cannot be viewed in isolation,” it noted.“This incident has also brought to light pre-existing complaints of recurrent sexual harassment faced by students of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, situated in the immediate vicinity of Aastha Kunj Park. Regrettably, these prior grievances failed to serve as a wake-up call for the police or the local administration to rectify institutional security lapses through enhanced patrolling and vigilance before yet another victim fell prey to unscrupulous perpetrators,” said the Bench which also included Justice K Vinod Chandran.“We are equally distressed by the news reports regarding the alleged gang rape and murder of a teenaged girl in the Swaroop Nagar area of Delhi, where the police reportedly recovered the victim’s decomposed body from a field,” it said.“These incidents, considered alongside other recent reports of sexual offences across Delhi-NCR, starkly underline a systemic failure on the part of law enforcement and civil administrative authorities to guarantee basic public safety,” the Bench said.The top court directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to constitute dedicated police teams for each police district, headed by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, to conduct an immediate survey and inspection of vulnerable pockets within their respective jurisdictions, including the outskirts, isolated stretches, parks, transport hubs, markets, educational-institution zones and other public places.It directed the teams to identify crime-prone areas using crime data, intelligence inputs and past complaints, and assess deficiencies such as poor lighting, inadequate surveillance and weak patrolling.The court also sought details on how the Delhi Police were using the National Database on Sexual Offenders to identify repeat offenders and verify antecedents.Appointing senior counsel Liz Mathew Amicus Curiae to assist it in the case, the Bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 5.The Ministry of Home Affairs was asked to explain how the Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences was being used to monitor timelines in rape investigations.The Bench wanted to know the manner in which Mission Shakti programme — an umbrella programme concerning the safety and empowerment of women — was operational in Delhi. It also sought to know about the present status of CCTV coverage, command-and-control infrastructure, smart lighting, emergency response mechanisms and other technology-enabled measures.Noting that the statements made by public authorities expressing concern over these incidents were understandable, the Bench, however, said, “expressions of concern, devoid of accountability, fall short of answering the larger institutional question. Expressing solidarity is not the solution to this social evil. What is required is a measurable response, with responsibility and accountability fixed upon the authorities entrusted with prevention of crime, maintenance of public order and protection of vulnerable persons.”It said, “The right to live with dignity, free from the fear of violence, is an intrinsic facet of the fundamental guarantee of life and personal liberty enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution. Public spaces, including parks, roads, buses, metro stations, subways, foot bridges, etc. cannot be permitted to become zones of high risk due to grossly inadequate illumination, poor surveillance, lax patrolling, or other preventable administrative deficiencies.”