Will plain statistics reassure the women in the city at a time when their safety, or the lack of it, is being debated in every gali, chawl and TV studio? Probably not, but Mumbai police commissioner Dr Satyapal Singh was certainly not going to shy away from giving his department a pat on the back at a time like this, especially when the numbers seemed to be in his favour, even though marginally. According to the top cop, crimes against women have certainly declined in Mumbai as compared to last year.

“In view of the prevailing environment we have taken a lot of measures by constituting a special squad for the safety of women, which has been apportioned to each and every police station,” Singh said. While 1,569 cases of crimes against women were registered in 2011 (January-December), 1,457 were lodged in 2012 (January-December 16).