A front-page report in this paper yesterday highlighted the shocking ordeal of a 26-year-old girl from Manipur, who was assaulted and molested in Santacruz, but found no help from either the onlookers or the local police, who merely registered a non-cognisable offence (NC). The complaint did not even mention molestation, even though the woman showed the officer her torn clothes.

It is doubly shocking that this happened in daylight and in public view, but disappointingly, this is becoming a pattern in Mumbai. It is hardly alarmist to say so, when violence — especially sexual violence — against women continues to rise despite a greater effort to create awareness and push for stricter penalties against the perpetrators.