Mumbai: 4 children and 18 women fall victim to crime each day

MUMBAI: Every day, four children and 18 women fall victim to crime in Mumbai. Data released by city police on Wednesday shows a 7.2% rise in crime against women in one year: from 5,970 cases in 2018 to 6,431 in 2019. Crime against children saw a greater increase: an 8.6% rise, from 1,210 cases in 2018 to 1,314 in 2019.
As per the police's report, rape (of both adults and minors) increased by 12.4% from 2018 to 2019, molestation and sexual harassment rose by 3.4% and 7.5%, respectively, and rape and molestation cases filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act increased by 8.4% and 10%, respectively.Dowry cases (mainly harassment, but also murder and suicide) too have increased, from 475 in 2018 to 603 last year.
Advocate Flavia Agnes of the NGO Majlis said women are under heightened risk of abduction, stalking, voyeurism and assault, not to mention abetment of suicide. She also says that crime against women in rural areas go underreported. "Data usually shows crime against women rising in urban areas, but not as much in rural belts. This doesn't mean women are not being harassed in villages. There's just no environment of reporting. Victims don't know whom to approach, there are no NGOs to support them. Victims are located very far from a taluka and in general no systems work," said Agnes.
She appreciated that the police in the state and Mumbai are taking the initiative to lodge complaints. "Even women victims are coming forward to lodge complaints, something not seen before," she said. State Commission for Women chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar said it's positive that women have come out of the stigma of reporting crime.