Thirteen children were murdered, 1,864 kidnapped and 979 assaulted sexually in Mumbai in 2016 – how safe are children in the city?
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data rank Mumbai second in crimes against children (3,400 cases) in all cities in India. Delhi tops the list with 7,392 cases. Maharashtra, too, is second most unsafe state for children, with 15,147 cases registered across the state in 2016, behind Uttar Pradesh.
Mumbai also fares poorly in terms of women’s safety. The city stood second in crimes against women last year. “Delhi reported 13,803 of the 41,761 cases of crimes against women, followed by Mumbai with 5,128 cases,” states the report.
The city ranked second in the list of most violent crimes against women, with 712 rapes, 1,142 kidnappings and 2,183 molestations. While Mumbai reported 12 cases of dowry harassment deaths, 27 cases of abetment to suicide of women were filed.
The NCRB data revealed that most children were victims of rape and unnatural offences. Of the total 15,147 cases, 4,815 cases were under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Mumbai recorded 979 cases under the Act.
While 120 cases of unnatural offences were registered in the state last year, 191 children were killed in 162 cases.
Advocate Abha Singh said, “The Maharashtra government has not been very serious about curbing child sexual abuse. For the police too, these cases are low on their priority list. The POCSO Act has not been very effective, as the conviction rate is very poor. In various cases, the defence raises questions on the character of the victim. How can the character of an eight- or nine-year-old be put to question in a courtroom?”
Singh said mistakes while collection of evidence lead to poor conviction. According to the NCRB report, of the 4,748 cases of crimes against children that are up for trial in 2016, 104 resulted in convictions while, 81 in acquittals. By the end of 2016, 4,543 cases were pending trial.
