Mumbai is a construct in people’s minds as much as it is a city obsessed with construction. And one of the pillars which have kept the idea of Mumbai alive is the safety it offers to women. Yes, the underworld has flourished in Mumbai and at the very least kept Bollywood’s inspiration-deprived scriptwriters busy. But more women can be seen out later at night than in any other Indian city. The women visible in Mumbai are strong, confident women, from the fisherwomen carrying their baskets in trains to the power women of corporate boardrooms. No man in his right mind would take on the women on a Virar local at rush hour, for instance. The buzz that kept the city alive,  empowered its women as well.At least, that’s the story we’ve told ourselves for years. But according to police statistics, crimes against women have been steadily increasing in Mumbai. Even if this means that more crimes are being reported than earlier, the figures hardly inspire confidence. An 8 per cent increase in rape and a 45.1 per cent increase in sexual harassment cases are the official figures for Mumbai in 2012. Let’s add these ones to the list too: child rapes up by 12 per cent, infanticide by 267 per cent and foeticide by 83 per cent.But apart from these statistics — from the state’s Criminal Investigation Department — there is that sense of how the city has changed which is more frightening. Rape of womenfolk is an old historical tool of the conqueror and seen as a legitimate spoils of victory. But we are not living in medieval times. Rape is a violation not just of a particular woman but also of humanity. And Mumbai — or Bombay, which was infinitely safer than Mumbai — was a fine marker in women’s progress at least as far as India was concerned.Not any more, though. The attack on the American aid worker in the first class compartment of a Mumbai local in the afternoon last week can be seen as symptomatic of this change. It was not the first such instance of attacks on women in trains. Years ago, the city was inspired by the courage of a young Jayabala Ashar who fought off her attacker on a local train and lost her legs in the process. A woman today would be better off giving in rather than fighting: the system no longer supports acts of individual valour.The young woman who was gang-raped in Mumbai on Thursday evening was a photojournalist out on assignment. She had a male colleague with her, it was early evening and though she may have been in a derelict mill, she was not in a deserted remote area. But she was separated from her companion by the five men involved, he was assaulted and tied up and she was gang-raped. The sun shines in Mumbai till about 7 pm at this time of the year. And not far away from Shakti Mills is the busy E Moses Road, linking the Worli Naka crossing to the station.But it is not even clear if that the context matters. If the girl was out at midnight in a remote area and been raped, it would still be horrifying. Women in Mumbai travel at all hours because it is their right to do so and they have been doing it for years. Patriarchy might rule everywhere else in India but it has been a little less rampant in Mumbai — so far.Changing the attitudes of society and mindsets is a long haul. It is necessary to understand what has gone wrong, why Mumbai has regressed to the extent that it is just behind Delhi — the nadir as far as perceptions of women’s rights are concerned underscored by the gang-rape of December 16, 2012. And the first finger of suspicion has to point at the dismal law-and-order situation in the city. Let us not forget that 10 terrorists sailed into Mumbai in November 2008 and held the city to ransom for three days while our local law enforcement agencies not only lost their best and bravest but also floundered and flailed helplessly. The same minister, who said such small incidents happen in big cities at that time, is in charge of law and order once again.There are distinct areas in the city where criminal elements thrive — and derelict mills are one of them, breeding grounds for drug addicts and peddlers. But the Mumbai police force is seemingly more concerned with the doings of Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan than what is happening under their noses. The idea that the police exist to protect the public was lost long ago and the sight of a Mumbai policeman no longer promotes the awe it once used to. Most people reach for their wallets rather than have a sense of respect.Whoever these men are who raped this young journalist, they clearly had no fear and were not bothered. It was daylight, she and her companion could easily identify them and they still went ahead. Conviction rates are dismal and one supposes that criminals know that better than anyone else.What hope for the idea of Mumbai then? A city is alive as long as it keeps reinventing itself but also if it corrects what’s wrong. Bombay was a city where you could take a taxi from your newspaper office after deadline at 4 in the morning and know that you’d reach home safely. Today Mumbai is a city where you go to a mill between Worli and Lower Parel to take photographs and you get gang-raped.That’s not reinvention. That’s death. The writer is a city-based journalist.

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