Though three such incidents have been reported to the police in the past 10 days, several such cases go unreported.
"The perpetrators too are young," an officer said. A man in his early twenties was arrested on Wednesday on charges of raping a minor girl from Kandivili. During interrogation it was found that he kidnapped a Bollywood actor and producer's daughter from Lokhandwala few days ago. She too was sexually assaulted. "These culprits are often unemployed and dissatisfied with their lives," the officer said.
A week ago, a three-year-old girl was found murdered in Goregoan. Two months ago, two sisters -- both minors -- were allegedly raped by their father in Mira Road, according to police records.
Pooja Taparia, the founder and CEO of Arpan, an NGO dealing with child sexual abuse, said the effect of a sexual abuse in childhood remained throughout the victim's life. It was a myth that child sexual abuse happened only in the lower class, she said.
"In fact, all victims of child sexual abuse seen by us are from the middle or upper class. We haven't got any case from the lower class," Taparia said. But this did not mean that children from the lower class were not sexually abused, she said.
A senior member of Child Welfare Committee, who has seen more than 100 cases of child sexual abuse, talked of incest. It was prevalent and few were reported, she said. A National survey says 50% of the offenders are known to victims. "The abuser can be a family member, like brother or sister, father, uncle, grandfather or a close relative," she said.