Mumbai 'continues to be safest city' for women

Despite the two recent shocking incidents of rape in Mumbai, the city continues to be the safest in the country for women though the role of the police should be emphasised as never before, say social analysts.

A law and order problem takes place if there are lapses in the police force, but in the case of the recent rape of a 13-year-old under the full glaze of adults present in the suburban train, the public failed to protect the child, says Nirmal Sawant Prabhawalkar, chairperson, state Women's Commission.

"It is a serious issue and a matter of concern for all of us and that is why we are calling a meeting of railway and police authorities along with various non-governmental organisations to come out with remedial measures to ensure that vulnerable sections of society are protected like the rest of us," she told Gulf News.

That is why the role of the public to inform the police, try and protect women and ensure some action is taken against criminals is important, she said.

"It is unfortunate that the mentality of the middle class is discriminatory towards the poor, beggars and orphans. They are self-centred and have a distorted bent of mind that ignores violence against women from the vulnerable sections of society even as they would abhor the thought of anything happening to their own."

This outlook needs to be changed drastically, and what disturbs Prabhawalkar is that highly educated people, instead of having a benevolent attitude, are actually apathetic towards the plight of such people.

"I have been visiting this child who has been sexually assaulted and apparently she faced the danger that other street children like her could face."

In another case, a young woman was raped by 10 men who barged into her house after throwing out her husband at gun point.

"This is also a case of society looking down on women who work in bars. In this case, the victim was a bar girl. The dignity and status of a woman in our society depends on the background she comes from though the fundamental rights are equal to all," she said.

According to Vijay Raghavan, project director of Prayas, a project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), "the vulnerability of children, women and even men who live in public places is very high. They are forced to take the help of local thugs or build up relations that often leads to a negative lifestyle."

He feels the problem of the homeless, particularly street children, has come to the fore only because the recent incident has been brought into the limelight.

The fact that the victim was from the streets and the accused a labourer, perhaps also from the streets or living on railway premises, has implications on normal citizens. Prayas is involved in the rehabilitation of women, particularly prostitutes and criminals.