Rise in cases of rape and molestation in Mumbai, says Praja Foundation survey

Mumbai: Crimes like rape and molestation have witnessed almost a three-fold increase in the metropolis since 2010-11 raising questions over safety of women, children and senior citizens, according to a survey conducted by a city-based NGO, Praja Foundation. [caption id=“attachment_2303362” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] The report suggests that within a span of four years (since 2010), the reporting of rape cases has increased to 390 percent and molestation by 347 percent. Conclusions about the numbers can be attributed to an increase in the number of victims coming forward to register cases, an actual rise in the crimes or both. The report highlighted that 31 percent of citizens (in the annual citizen survey 2015, conducted in 22,850 households) believed that their locality was “not secure for women, children and senior citizens”. In 2014, rape cases rose by 49 per cent compared to 2013, while molestation went up by 39 per cent, said Nitai Mehta, founder and managing trustee of Praja Foundation. In 2010-11, only 165 rape cases were registered while in 2014-15, this number reached 643, he said. An interesting finding in the survey is that the police control room has a shortfall of 51 percent and this is after 34 percent of the people said that they had called helpline numbers to report a crime. Another matter of concern is the poor conviction rate in rape cases , he said adding “there were only 27 per cent convictions in 2014.” 75 per cent of the respondents approached police to register the crimes of which 53 per cent said they felt satisfied with the police work, said Mehta. Read the survey findings here . with inputs from PTI