If you are in danger right now, call your local emergency number. Escrow is not an emergency service.
Is it too late to report in India?
Probably not.
What we have read for India says a report is accepted long after the day it happened. The full wording is below, with the source. Years late is still a report.
Checked against official sources on 28 August 2026.
the deadline in India, quoted in full
There is generally no statute of limitations for reporting rape or sexual assault in India. The limitation periods in Section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure only apply to offences punishable with up to three years' imprisonment. Rape carries a much higher sentence. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which covers offences against anyone under 18, also has no prescribed limitation period for reporting.
We quote this rather than shorten it. A shortened deadline is a wrong deadline, and this is the sentence a lawyer would want to read.
2 different clocks
The exam window runs in hours. The deadline runs in years.
the exam window in India
The medical exam should be done as soon as possible. Try not to bathe, change clothes or clean up beforehand. The likelihood of finding forensic evidence drops sharply after about 72 hours. Evidence is still sometimes collected up to 96 hours. It is carried out at any government or private hospital by a registered medical practitioner, and treatment is free of cost.
This is the clock that runs out fast. You can be examined without deciding whether to go to the police.
the limitation period
This is the deadline for the case itself — how long the law gives before a prosecution can no longer be brought. It is usually many years for rape, and often longer or unlimited when the survivor was a child.
Missing the exam window does not mean the limitation period has passed. They are separate clocks.
where to report in India
You can report at any police station, regardless of where the assault happened. The officer in charge must register a First Information Report (FIR). This is called a Zero FIR, and it is later transferred to the station with jurisdiction. Under Section 154(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a woman survivor's statement must be recorded by a woman police officer. If she prefers, it can be taken at her residence or a place of her choice. You do not need to file an FIR before getting medical care. Hospitals can register a medico-legal case (MLC) and treat you first.
if the deadline has passed
A closed case is not the same as no record.
If the period above has run out where you are, a prosecution may no longer be possible. That is the plain truth and we will not dress it up. 3 things are still open to you.
a timestamped report
What you write here is dated and kept. Years later, a record that existed before anyone asked for it carries weight a memory does not.
a sealed report that can match
Seal it against an identifier — a profile link, a phone, a workplace. Nobody sees it until someone else names the same person. Their case may still be inside the deadline.
a pin on the map
Publish it and the next person searching India can see it. He stays an alias unless a court, the police or the press have already published his name.
Many countries also treat the clock differently when the survivor was a child, when the offence is ongoing, or when new evidence appears. A support organisation in this list can tell you whether that applies to you.
who can tell you today
People in India who do this every day.
These are independent of Escrow. They know how the deadline is read in practice where you are, and they can also just talk.
Women Helpline (National)
National Commission for Women
Nyaaya (legal information)
sources
The deadline above came from one of these.
- Women Helpline Number 181
Women and Child Development Department, Haryana (Government of India state department) · checked 28 August 2026
- Medico-Legal Guide for Survivors of Sexual Assault
Nyaaya · checked 28 August 2026
other places
The deadline somewhere else.
- Is it too late in Bengaluru?
- Is it too late in Delhi?
- Is it too late in Kolkata?
- Is it too late in Mumbai?
- Is it too late in Australia?
- Is it too late in Bangladesh?
- Is it too late in Brazil?
- Is it too late in Canada?
- Is it too late in Colombia?
- Is it too late in Egypt?
- Is it too late in Indonesia?
- Is it too late in Ireland?
This is information, not legal advice.
Nobody here is your lawyer. The deadline above is quoted from a source we read, and the date we read it is beside it. Laws change, and an office may read a deadline differently from the statute. For your own case, ask a lawyer or a support organisation in India.
If something here is out of date, write to hello@escrow.nanocorp.app and we will check it and say when we did.
when you are ready
There is no deadline for writing it down here. A report on Escrow can be made years afterwards, and nothing happens until you say so.
Was this hard to find anywhere else? Answer 7 questions and the count becomes public. No name, no email.