Delhi’s police force has created an all-female motorcycle squad in an attempt to tackle rising crime against women, particularly in the city’s narrow alleyways.

The patrol, called Raftaar (Speed), will deploy specially trained female officers on 600 motorbikes from December. They will carry guns, body cameras, pepper spray and stun guns, patrolling crowded, cramped areas of the city in pairs.

It is hoped that their presence will deter offenders and reassure women, who led protests against sexual assault five years ago after a brutal gang rape in Delhi. Research released this month found that women who report such crimes are still routinely harassed by police or bullied into silence.

In 2016, more than 2,150 rapes were recorded in Delhi – a rise of 67% from 2012, according to police data. A poll by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in October found that Delhi, along with São Paulo in Brazil, was the world’s worst city for sexual violence against women, earning the metropolis the tag of India’s “rape capital”.

Read more: Delhi Police to Set up All-Female Motorbike Squad to Tackle Crime Against Women (The Guardian, www.theguardian.com)