Last Thursday, in the deepening twilight that sent shadows creeping as a ghostly mantle over the desolate ruins of Shakti Mills in the heart of Mumbai, her screams echoed unheard like swallows lost in the night.
The atmosphere was seared with sexual violence; the shimmering lights of Mumbai’s buildings far away would have seemed a travesty of normalcy to the 22-year-old photographer as she was being repeatedly raped by five drug addicts among the detritus of a bygone era. Her agony would have multiplied the helplessness of her companion who lay bound and gagged inside the broken, mossy walls. The young woman had wanted to capture the romance of Bombay’s flirtation with history through the lens of her camera, which instead has become Mumbai’s horrorscape—her cries would haunt for years to come, the citizens of the city that once had the reputation of India’s safest metropolis for women. Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, women could walk the streets long after midnight looking for ice cream in Colaba or vada pao in Shivaji Park. They could take a taxi home safe at dawn in Bandra or Juhu when the partying crowd spilled out of Mumbai’s many discotheques and bars where young professional women liked to let their long hair down on weekends. No more. Is the financial capital of India rapidly becoming the country’s rape capital instead? Delhi’s crime rate is higher than Mumbai, but the capital of Maharashtra comes second in molestation cases–385 to Delhi’s 654.
The young photographer’s nightmare has visited many nameless women across the city. According to Mumbai police data, crimes against women have more than doubled from 2012 to 2013.
In the first seven months of 2013—till July—1,723 cases have been recorded. In 2012, for the same period, 753 offences were recorded—an increase of 129 per cent. Rape cases rose by a frightening 100 per cent in the seven-month period—224 cases were registered in Mumbai until July 2013 compared to 111 in 2012. Of these, 135 involved minors. Molestation topped the gruesome chart; rising by 300 per cent until July compared to the same period last year—635 cases were registered under IPC section 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman). In 2012, it was 215. Last year, rape and child rape cases increased to 8 per cent and 12 per cent respectively over 2011.
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