While India’s financial capital has long prided itself on being relatively safe for women, the gang rape of a photojournalist in an abandoned mill building in August brought that reputation into question.

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As Mumbai’s usually apathetic citizens poured into the streets in support of stronger measures to protect women, political parties condemned the incident and placed blame. While Milind Deora, a Congress party member of Parliament, promoted self-defense classes for women, the Shiv Sena, a right-wing Hindu nationalist party in Maharashtra, distributed 2,500 knives to women.

In the national elections for the Lok Sabha, or lower house of Parliament, women’s safety has figured more prominently in the manifestos of Indian political parties than in previous elections. In Mumbai, ads for the governing Indian National Congress promote its measure to improve women’s safety, and the prime ministerial candidate for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Narendra Modi, on Sunday accused the Congress party of failing to protect women.

India Ink asked female voters in Mumbai, which goes to the polls Thursday, about their thoughts on women’s safety in the city and what they expected from politicians on this issue.

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Name: Shabina Sheikh

Age: 32

Occupation: Homemaker

“I don’t venture out much, so I feel safe. I have a young daughter who is 12 and attends school, and I worry about her all the time. I just wish that she could roam around the city as she pleases without any trouble. I am always stressed until she comes home every day. Whenever there is an incident, people say the girl should not have been out so late or that she was wearing something indecent, but they never tell the boys that they should not be out so late or harass girls.

Politicians should understand why these things are happening and control these incidents. Whenever a rape makes the headlines, then politicians say, ‘We will make a change,’ but when people forget about it and journalists stop asking about it, then they also forget to do anything.”

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Name: Hansa Natu Kharwa

Age: 45

Occupation: Vegetable seller

“I think that women are mostly safe in Mumbai, but when you are in secluded areas, then you don’t feel safe. Women like us who work should feel that it is O.K. to be outside the house in the city. Women also have to make a living and be out and about in the city, but if you cannot be outside the house and be secure, then how can you work to fill your stomach? I think that politicians can do a lot if they want to, but they only think of these issues at the time of elections. Things have not become much safer in Mumbai.”

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Name: Usha Eknath Dhanu

Age: 50

Occupation: Domestic worker, washes dishes in people’s homes

“I hear about these gang rapes and cases of women being attacked on television and in the papers, but I have never had any incident, so I feel secure. I think the government needs to do more for women’s safety. If a woman is harassed, then the police need to pay attention, and there should be more women in the police force. If you go to the police station to complain that someone is harassing you, they don’t think it is a big deal. I think the Congress party does work for women; they give widows’ pension, they give water in the taps, and they make roads. They tell women, ‘You walk ahead, and we will follow you.’ They support us.”

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Name: Tinaz Mistry

Age: 24

Occupation: Marketing in a mutual fund company in Mumbai

“I definitely feel safer in Mumbai than I would in a lot of other parts of the country. I can get out of my house late at night and drive on the streets and it’s O.K.; I don’t feel unsafe or like someone is trying to follow me or harass me in any way. I think the government can do a lot to improve the situation. Law and order should be stricter, the judiciary has to function better, there should be fast-track courts, and the government needs to ensure that every rapist is hanged.

The government is talking about women’s safety here and there, but they are not giving it the paramount importance that it deserves. But I think most importantly the mindset of people needs to change, the apathy stems from us as individuals — not only men but even women. We need to make sure that our politicians don’t have criminal records.”

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Name: Deepti Kadam

Age: 28

Occupation: Office administration at Puretech Internet, a digital marketing, web design and development company

Quote: “I don’t always feel safe in Mumbai. When you are walking in a crowded area or traveling by train, men are always giving you strange looks, teasing women, pushing against you. There should be more policemen in trains. When I travel at night after 8 p.m., there are no policemen around in the train.

I don’t think politicians have done anything for women’s safety in Mumbai. Seeing that politicians like Abu Azmi say that women should also get punished in rape cases, I feel like they first need to change their mentality, and then they should see what the reality on the ground is. If the prime minister is changed, then I think there should be some change.”

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Name: Sai Patekar

Age: 18

Occupation: Student at Ramnarain Ruia College

“Even though Mumbai is supposed to be a safe city for women, I don’t always feel safe. If I am wearing a kurta, I feel safe — I don’t know why — but when I am wearing shorts, the way people stare at you, you feel unsafe. I don’t think politicians have done much for women’s safety in Mumbai. I don’t think the government can do much about women’s safety. Even women in the police are being raped, so what can the police do?

It’s the people’s mentality that creates all these issues. I think education matters a lot. There is so much illiteracy in Mumbai. I think if people are educated from birth, things will change.”