West Bengal tops the list.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
The statistics of children went missing in India show that the number of missing children is increasing year-by-year. According to the data collected by NGO Child Rights and You (CRY) from government sources, the total number of untraced children rose to 62,988 in 2015 from 34,244 in 2013.
From 2010 to 2014, 3.85 lakh children went missing from across the country. A shocking point is that 61 percent of them were girls.
“Over 2010-2014, out of the 3.85 lakh children who went missing across the country, 61 percent were girls,” The Times of India reported, quoting a CRY report.
The state of West Bengal tops the list with 14,671 children who went missing in 2014. West Bengal accounts for 21 percent of the children remaining untraceable.
“The state reported 14,671 cases of missing children in 2014, which is more than 21 percent of the total cases reported in India. In other words, one in every 5 missing children in India is from Bengal,” said the report.
Delhi and Maharashtra are other two states that reported a higher number of child missing. Data collected by CRY from Delhi police said that 7928 went missing from the national capital in 2015. In other words, 22 children went missing every day. In Maharashtra, 9,414 children have reminded untraceable in 2015.
Madhya Pradesh is one of the states that have reported the highest number of untraced children with 53,000 cases reported from 2010 to 2015. On an average 25 children went missing every day.
More than 60 percent of the children went missing from Madhya Pradesh is girls. CRY revealed that 72 percent of girl missing cases from the state still remain without any evidence.
“Despite the alarming statistics over the years and heightened awareness on the issue of missing children, data obtained from the state CID’s Juvenile Aid Bureau shows that nearly 8,000 went missing in Madhya Pradesh last year. This means 22 children went missing from the state every day on an average last year, a significant jump from 19 in 2014,” the CRY report said.
Madhya Pradesh director general of police Surendra Sinh denied the claims of CRY.
“It is true that the number of girls who go missing is more than that of boys. It is also true that the number of girls who remain untraced is more than the number of untraced boys. But it’s absolutely incorrect that more than 70% girls remain untraced… only 13% girls and 5% boys weren’t found in the last five years,” he told The Hindustan Times.
Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Haryana account for 97 percent of girl trafficking in India.
“There needs to be a differential structure of investigation to track these children. The major reason why children are trafficked from West Bengal, for instance, is very different from, say the national capital,” Komal Ganotra of CRY was quoted as saying by IANS.
“A robust investigation mechanism with inter-state and inter-departmental coordination remains imperative. A comprehensive database of children is yet to see the light of the day,” she added.