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the deadline · Mumbai · India

Is it too late to report in Mumbai?

Probably not.

What we have read for Mumbai 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 27 August 2026.

Start a reportYou can read this page without writing anything.

the deadline in Mumbai, quoted in full

There is no deadline for reporting rape to the police in India. You can file an FIR at any time, even years later. The one-year limitation period in the criminal procedure law does not apply to offences as serious as rape.

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 Mumbai

Ask to be taken to the casualty or gynaecology department of any government hospital. Every government hospital is legally required to provide free medical examination and treatment to a sexual assault survivor. Some have hospital-based crisis centres, such as Dilaasa (K.B. Bhabha and Rajawadi Hospitals) or Sukoon (Nair Hospital). Go as soon as you can, and avoid bathing or changing clothes beforehand if possible. HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) works best if started within 72 hours. Emergency contraception is most effective within 72-120 hours of the assault.

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 Mumbai

Go to the nearest police station and ask for the Crime Against Women Unit (Unit-I). It specifically handles rape, molestation and kidnapping cases. Mumbai Police's Crime Against Women Cell coordinates this citywide. Under the Zero FIR rule you do not have to find the police station where the assault happened. You can walk into any police station in India. They must register your complaint and forward it. You can also ask a woman constable to record your statement, which the law entitles you to.

The full guide for Mumbai: what to bring, the exam, the station, every source

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 Mumbai 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 Mumbai 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.

sources

The deadline above came from one of these.

the honest note

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 Mumbai.

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.

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