Eastern suburbs most unsafe in city

The eastern suburbs continued to remain the most unsafe in the city for women in 2012, with 70 rape cases registered between Kurla and Mulund, reveals police data.

The eastern suburbs continued to remain the most unsafe in the city for women in 2012, with 70 rape cases registered between Kurla and Mulund, reveals police data.

HT Image

What’s disturbing is that the 18 police stations in the east region, which is the Mumbai police’s jurisdictional division, have recorded a steep rise in the number of rapes compared to the figures in 2011, when 57 rapes were reported.

Second on this list of notoriety is the north region — areas between Jogeshwari and Dahi-sar — where 55 rape cases were registered last year. The western suburbs witnessed the maximum cases of molestations across the city, with 191 cases regiustered.

South Mumbai retained its position as the safest region for women with the least number of sexual violence cases reported from here. The areas from Colaba-Cuffe Parade to JJ Marg reported 25 cases of rape in 2012, recording a drop in the number of rape cases compared to 2011 when 32 cases were reported.

A senior police official said the eastern suburbs have traditionally reported higher instances of sexual violence cases against women compared to the four other police regions in the city. “Increased reportage in the media will help spread awareness, which could serve as a deterrent,” the official said

Shankar Kamble, former assistant commissioner of police, said the trend in the east region could be attributed to high density of slums in the area.