At least 15 girls go missing every day in Madhya Pradesh, according to state crime records bureau (SCRB), 2015. Most of these  girls are aged of 14-18 years.

These  statistics from the state were in the news on International Missing Children’s Day.

At least 8059 children went missing last year of which 5,740 were girls and 2,319 boys – this means 6 boys on an average go missing every day in Madhya Pradesh. Number-crunching of SCRB data suggests 22 children go missing each day in state, a jump from 19 in 2014.

Juvenile Aid Bureau in its RTI reply to Child Rights and You (CRY) and NGO, Hifasat, stated that since 2010 more than 50,000 children went missing in the state. Of 45,391 missing kids between 2010 2014, 11,847 children remained untraced, a majority of whom were girls.

Between 2010 and 2015, RTI reply says 53,188 children went missing of which more than 60% were girls. And 72% of them remained untraced between 2010 2014.

More than 90% girls in Gwalior, Balaghat and Anuppur districts remained untraced in 2014.

Soha Moitra, regional director, CRY, said, “It’s a cause of concern that so many children go missing every year in Madhya Pradesh. First few hours after the child goes missing are crucial for tracking as most are trafficked to neighbouring states. Police fight over jurisdiction and this further delays rescue. Ineffective tracking system and insufficient database minimizes chance of children being brought back home.”

Child right activist Prashant Dubey, who is also involved in training and sensitising police personnel on missing children said, “It’s a social malaise. There are also runaway children, who escape violence and poverty at home. Others are kidnapped and smuggled out. If not tracked on time, kids are forced into prostitution, forced labour, begging and organ trade. Children from tribal areas are vulnerable as they are often lured to bigger cities on promise of job opportunities,” he said. Most missing children are rescued from Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Rajasthan and Haryana, where they are pushed into domestic work or flesh trade. Some are smuggled to Rajasthan, Haryana and some districts of Madhya Pradesh, which have a skewed sex ratio and forcibly married off.

“Most of the child hell-holes are in Satpura belt of Madhya Pradesh. Even missing boys from some areas have been forced into flesh trade,” said Dubey. There have been cases of girls being sold abroad, particularly Iran for marriage. Bhopal Childline director, Archana Sahay said, “Mumbai and Bangalore have the maximum number of children from MP. Most of them are girls as they are soft targets and can be manipulated emotionally.”

NCB also put the state at the top of list of missing children in 2014 with 7,000 cases. Jaishree Kiyawat, commissioner women’s empowerment, Madhya Pradesh, is believed to have told the media, “I am busy. Will talk later.” Aruna Mohan Rao, ADG, women’s cell was also not available for comment, reports said.

[Prepared by Animesh from media sources- Edited by Debrata Sarma]

  child abuse, Child labour, child rights, cry, haryana, Madhya Pradesh, missing children, NCB, Rajasthan, RTI, SCRB