A newly published report claims that far too little attention is being given to the problem of missing children in India. The pioneering report, published by Indian NGO Bachpan Bachao Andalan (BBA), was initiated in response to dozens of missing persons cases in Delhi not being registered or investigated.

The shocking state of affairs was uncovered when another NGO, Nav Srishti, painstakingly filed Right to Information (RTI) applications with every police station in every district of the capital. This exercise revealed that although official police data recorded 468 children missing, the true figure was close to 1,500 between January and April in 2011.

For their national study, BBA collected data covering a two-year period from January 2008 from 20 states and four union territories. 117,480 children had been reported missing during this period; of these 41,546 remained untraced during that timeframe.

Maharashtra state had the most cases (26,211), followed by West Bengal (25,413) and Delhi (13,750). However, West Bengal had the highest proportion of untraced children at 74%, followed by more north east states: Nagaland, Bihar, Jharkand and Assam.

Trafficked children not counted as missing

The Indian government disputes these figures. According to the BBA report, the National Criminal Records Bureau puts the figure much lower at 17,279 (minor children kidnapped, abducted, procured, sold or bought) although there is no indication as to the timescale. The BBA report claims that the number of missing children is actually much higher because most human trafficking victims are not recorded as missing cases. This is due to so many being enticed by traffickers with offers of a better life, so parents do not report them as missing.

“The issue of missing children is the worst social problem right now”, commented Vinod Kumar Tikku, senior member of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). “Most of the time, these children are trafficked ultimately becoming victims of sexual violence, physical abuse, sex trade and child marriage.”

Poverty and lack of education

“The largest chunk of missing children in Delhi is from slums like Silampur in East Delhi” notes Tikku. “Not providing schooling to these children is the primary reason for such cases—not to mention poverty, which makes these kids more vulnerable.”

Dr Joseph D’souza, International President of Dalit Freedom Network, welcomed BBA’s report. “It is timely to highlight the issue of missing children in India, as this has been ignored for far too long. It highlights that children are particularly vulnerable to being enticed by traffickers where their parents are illiterate or impoverished. This is the fate of far too many Dalit and Tribal children, who are the main victims of human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery in India today.”

Shortcomings identified

The report highlights the lack of a legal definition for both missing children and for trafficking. Despite trafficking in persons being prohibited in the Indian constitutional framework, there is no comprehensive legislation on human trafficking, claim the report writers. The lack of resources, police training, standard operating procedures, centralised database and information-sharing are all blamed for contributing to the situation. The report proposes a national centre for missing and exploited children to be set up without delay, supported by the establishing of advisory bodies in every state, co-ordinators in every district and agreed operating procedures for investigators.

Dr D’souza calls for the report’s recommendations to be seriously considered and acted upon. He added, “In addition, I hope that coverage of the report will help to raise awareness among the people so that they will be more alert to the warning signs.”