Theft rules Mumbai’s crime chart, but drops 6% over a year. Rape cases increase 14%

Narayan Namboodiri / TNN / Updated: Jan 16, 2020, 06:31 IST

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Theft is the most prevalent crime in Mumbai, according to data for 2019 released by the city police on Wednesday, though it has dropped by about 6% from the year before. Causing hurt too figures high on the list, occupying the second spot (4,372 cases in 2019), followed by vehicle theft (2,693) and molestation (2,678).

Theft rules Mumbai’s crime chart, but drops 6% over a year. Rape cases increase 14%

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MUMBAI: Theft is the most prevalent crime in Mumbai, according to data for 2019 released by the city police on Wednesday, though it has dropped by about 6% from the year before. Causing hurt too figures high on the list, occupying the second spot (4,372 cases in 2019), followed by vehicle theft (2,693) and molestation (2,678).
In all, 41,932 cases of crime were registered with Mumbai Police in 2019, a 0.1% increase from 41,901in 2018.

Though rape forms a fraction of the cases, its absolute reported number is disturbingly high: 1,015 in 2019, up from 889 in 2018. The police have also shown a high rate of cracking cases, having solved 28,802 of the total 41,931 cases in 2019 and 28,812 of the total 41,901in 2018. In both instances, the police’s rate of solving crime cases is around 69%.

Disturbingly, like for rape, there has been an increase in other serious offences. Molestation rose from 2,586 in 2018 to 2678 the next year, robbery from 931 to 987, extortion from 228 to 253, attempt to murder from 280 to 343. Murder cases remained more or less the same: 165 in 2019, up by just one case.

Offences that registered a dip included theft (from 6,260 cases in 2018 to 5,888 in 2019), hurt (5,198 to 4,372), vehicle theft (3,203 to 2,693), and house breakin (2,244 to 2,058). Chain snatching (171 to 157) and dacoity (32 to
21) dropped too, but the figures are not high enough for a city as populous as Mumbai to establish a trend in any statistically significant way.
Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Vinay Choubey said the force has come out with several initiatives to tackle street crime and to solve cases. “The dip in some crimes is the result of prompt action, added with the use of technology to solving crime. The installation of CCTV cameras at various points in the city has also been a deterrent to criminals.”
However, RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge said that the crime data doesn’t reflect financial wrongdoing and real estate fraud. “We need to reform our criminal justice system to make sure such crimes are also taken seriously,” he said.

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