Mumbai: A 40-year-old man has been arrested by Bandra Police for allegedly raping and impregnating his wife’s minor sister. His wife was also taken into custody for trying to hide the crime and for assisting in the minor’s delivery at home. The case came to light after the girl was admitted to the hospital.

According to the police, the teenage girl lived with her elder sister and brother-in-law in the same house. In her official statement, the minor alleged that her brother-in-law had raped her multiple times between March 2024 and July 2025. When she informed her elder sister about the pregnancy, she allegedly threatened her and did not allow her to seek help.

To cover up her husband’s crime, the elder sister did not let the minor girl visit a doctor or go out for any medical treatment. She conducted the girl’s delivery at home. However, when the girl’s condition worsened, she was rushed to Bhabha Hospital, where medical staff alerted the authorities, as reported.

A police official said, “After the minor’s condition stabilised, we recorded her statement. Based on her account, we booked her brother-in-law and her elder sister. Both were later arrested.” The victim and her baby are currently admitted to the hospital and are said to be in stable condition, according to police.

According to the report, the Bandra police have arrested the man and his wife under the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for rape and issuing threats.

The police have also charged the victim’s elder sister with concealing information about the offence, causing the disappearance of evidence, and threatening the teenager. The victim gave birth to the baby at the hospital, and both are currently in stable condition.

Thane: The Thane Crime Branch Unit 2 has arrested a 25-year-old habitual thief and cracked nine house break-in cases reported across Bhiwandi.

Gold Worth ₹5.98 Lakh Recovered from Accused Akash Jadhav

According to police sources, 58 grams of gold ornaments worth ₹5.98 lakh were recovered from the accused’s possession. The suspect has been identified as Akash alias Chinya Jadhav, a resident of the Manpada area in Thane.

The investigation began after an FIR was filed at Narpoli police station for a housebreaking incident involving an unidentified suspect. Crime Branch officials, along with local police, launched a joint investigation. CCTV footage and technical intelligence led to the identification of Jadhav.

A trap was laid, and the accused was apprehended. He was produced in court and remanded to police custody for further investigation.

History of Theft: 9 Cases Registered Across Four Police Stations

During questioning, police discovered that Jadhav has a history of theft, with nine cases registered against him. These include five at Narpoli, two at Bhiwandi City, one at Nizampura, and one at Shantinagar police station.

Police confirmed the recovery of stolen gold ornaments during the arrest. Further investigation is underway.

India lost Rs 22,842 crore to cybercriminals and fraudsters in 2024, DataLEADS, a Delhi-based media and tech company, said in its report on widespread digital financial frauds in the country. The amount stolen by digital criminals and fraudsters last year was nearly three times more than the Rs 7,465 crore in 2023 and almost 10 times more than the Rs 2,306 in 2022, DataLEADS said in ‘Contours of Cybercrime: Persistent and Emerging Risk of Online Financial Frauds and Deepfakes in India.

Prediction For Cyber-Crime Frauds

The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, I4C, a federal agency that liaises between state and central law enforcement, predicts Indians will lose over Rs 1.2 lakh crore this year. The number of cybercrime complaints has spiked similarly; nearly twenty lakh were reported in 2024, up from around 15.6 lakh the year before and ten times more than were logged in 2019.

The surge in the number of cybercrime complaints and the volume of money lost points to one inescapable conclusion – India’s digital crooks are getting smarter and more efficient, and, in a country with a staggering nearly 290 lakh unemployed people, their ranks are increasing.

Bank-related frauds have increased dramatically; the Reserve Bank of India reported a nearly eightfold jump in the first half of FY 2025/26 compared to the same period last year. And the amount of money lost was staggering – Rs 2,623 crore to Rs 21,367 crore. Private sector banks accounted for nearly 60 per cent of all such incidents. But it was customers in public sector banks who were worst-hit; they lost Rs 25,667 crore in all.

Why have these numbers jumped so much over the past three years?

Because of the increased use of digital payment modes – i.e., smartphone-enabled services like Paytm and PhonePe – and the sharing and processing of financial details online – via (what many believe are encrypted and fail-safe) messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Federal data says there were over 190 lakh UPI, or unified payment interface, transactions in June 2025 alone, and these were worth a combined Rs 24.03 lakh crore. Digital payments’ value has grown from roughly Rs 162 crore in 2013 to Rs 18,120.82 crore in January 2025, and India accounts for nearly half of all such payments worldwide.

COVID-19

Much of this increase can be attributed to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns.

During COVID-19, the government pushed for a switch to UPI apps like Paytm to ensure social distancing and minimise contact with currency notes, via which the virus could be transmitted.

Digital Payment Tools In Rural Areas

The government also reasoned that digital payment tools would ensure greater penetration of financial services, particularly in rural areas. By 2019, India already had 440 million smartphone users and data rates were among the cheapest in the world – 1 GB cost Rs 200, or less than $3.

Insurance sector scams were also common. These included life, health, vehicle, and general, and are becoming an increasingly lucrative option for cybercriminals, particularly as insurance companies urge customers to opt for app-based services.