Editor’s Note
Recent data from Mumbai Police reveals a concerning spike in missing persons cases, with 82 reports filed in just over a month—a significant majority involving women. This trend underscores urgent questions about public safety and preventative measures in India’s financial capital.
Mumbai, which is supposed to be a safe space for the people, especially women, is witnessing a worrying rise in missing cases. In just 36 days, i.e. from November 1 to December 6, Mumbai Police reported a massive 82 people missing, of which 60 were female.
According to the Mid Day report, areas including Kurar Village, Vakola, Powai, Malwani, and Sakinaka emerged as hotspots as multiple cases were reported from these locations. In addition to this, citing the Maharashtra police report, Metro Mumbai Live reported that from June to December this year, Mumbai witnessed 134 cases of missing children.
Coming back to the 82 cases of missing reported between November and December, eighteen-year-olds formed a large share of the missing, of which 41 were girls and 13 boys. In a shocking revelation, the list also reported that much younger girls, as young as five, were also reported missing, while boys aged 11 saw the most missing cases.
Police officials clarified that the available data may not capture the full scale of the issue, as several cases remain unreported due to parental fear, social stigma and other sensitivities around missing children.
In a latest incident, police recovered the body of an eight-year-old boy from a building’s water tank in the Taki Pada area of Nalasopara on Monday, December 8, sending shockwaves through the locality. The child, Mehtaj Mustafa Shaikh, a resident of Kararibad, Khadija Building in Nalasopara (West), had been missing since December 3. According to police, Mehtaj had stepped out of his home around 1 pm without informing his parents.
