Lest we forget: The missing children of India

In 2016, the Delhi High Court had raised concern over the issue of missing children in the country, equating it with the menace of terrorism. And if the government data is to be believed, the issue is indeed of grave importance.

Information from the Ministry of Women and Child Development show that more than 2,40,000 children went missing between 2012 and 2017. However, the number might be much higher in reality as many such cases often go unreported.

According to The New York Times, the police is also reluctant in fling first information report in such cases. The international media outlet claimed that FIRs were filed in only 40% of the cases between 2012 and 2014.

The report further mentioned that there could be many socio-economic factors behind the menace of missing children. One of the reasons cited in poverty. It says that families living in acute poverty at times fail to report the matter to police if the possible reason behind it is abuse of any manner.

Some families are so poor that they even resort to selling their children as they do not have the means of livelihood to sustain, said the report.

NYT further says that a bad monsoon can also be a factor leading to spike in missing children cases. According to the report, bad monsoon pushes families to starvation, and hence the children are set out to work. It is in this situation that the children often fall prey to trafficking situations.

A recent report by the US, millions of children and women in India are victims of sex trafficking.