Crime against women graph in MBVV region went up in 2024

MUMBAI: Atrocities against women in MBVV rose in 2024, with rape cases up by 47 and molestation by 77, despite prevention measures.

MUMBAI: The year 2024 marked an increase over the previous year in recorded cases of atrocities against women in the Mira-Bhayander-Vasai-Virar (MBVV) region. Rape cases went up by 47 and molestation cases by 77, according to the crime statistics of the MBVV police. Officers said that cases of sexual assault and rape in the Vasai-Nalasopara-Virar region were registered with MBVV at the rate of roughly one case a day, which was cause for concern.

Crime against women graph in MBVV region went up in 2024

Although several measures are reportedly being taken to prevent the incidence of sexual assault against women, the number of cases has not decreased. In 2023, there were 360 cases of rape and 477 cases of molestation in MBVV. This increased in 2024, in which 407 cases of rape and 555 cases of molestation were registered. Police officers revealed that several rapes were committed by luring, cheating and then threatening and blackmailing women with their photographs in compromising positions.

There has also been an increase in molestation cases of women passersby on the street, stalking, use of obscene language and sending of obscene messages. The police said that most of the crimes against women had been committed through Instagram. Incidents of rape by prominent people like teachers, doctors and politicians were also recorded.

Tejashree Shinde, who heads the all-woman Bharosa Cell, a police counselling initiative for women victims, said that POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) cases had become a social problem in the region. “Social media has made it very easy for young girls to connect with men they don’t know,” she said. “The victims of such crimes are normally teenaged girls who do not understand the dark side of the Internet.”

Sushant Pawar, a social worker who has been helping victims of rape for over a decade, said that while sexual assault and rape could never be condoned, there was a social angle to the crime as well. “The absence of parents or a communication gap between parents and children is one of the main reasons that minors are vulnerable to sexual crimes,” he said.