Every two days, one woman is raped in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Mumbai, regarded as the safest Indian city for women, still logs one rape every two days. And the December-end figure will most probably be more than the 2006 number.

A detailed analysis by TOI on the pattern of crime in the last five years across 84 police stations in Mumbai has thrown up facts that should worry the administration. Mumbai registered 133 rapes in 2003. This figure rose to 163 last year. There have been 160 cases by the end of November this year, implying that the end-of-the-year figure may be slightly higher than last year's.

It is not only the rape figure that is worrying. As many has 16 break-ins have happened every day, in some part of the city or the other, till November this year. And both murders and robberies have occurred at the rate of more than one in two days.

But there is one fact that the administration can draw comfort from; the crime figures appear to be plateauing off and the trends indicate that the end-2007 figures will not be too worse than the 2006 figures.

There were 210 cases of extortion, which used to be a major headache for Mumbai Police, in 2005. This year, till end-November, there have been only 116 cases; this 11-month figure is similar to the 12-month figure of 137 in 2006.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister R R Patil felt that a slight increase in the percentage of criminal cases was bound to happen in any exponentially growing city like Mumbai.

"A 10% rise should be considered normal as the city is bursting at its seams and there is a huge influx of migrants into the city every day," Patil said.