Digital Goa, Sept 1 – The Opposition today flagged a 43% rise in rape cases in Goa over five years, with cases increasing from 72 in 2021 to 103 in 2025. Responding to the figures in the Goa Legislative Assembly, CM Pramod Sawant attributed the increase to the circumstances under which several cases come to be registered as rape. Sawant cited live-in relationships subsequently resulting in rape complaints, love affairs where marriage was later refused, and elopement involving minors, where the consent of a minor has no legal validity. He also included among the reasons cases involving migrant workers found during pregnancy-related treatment to have married before turning 18, besides cases involving neighbours and extra-marital relationships. Sawant maintained that such cases being registered under rape provisions had contributed to the higher numbers.
