Eight children go missing daily in Delhi

Eight children go missing from the streets of Delhi each day, according to records available with the Delhi Police.

Eight children go missing from the streets of Delhi each day, according to records available with the Delhi Police.

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Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO working for the welfare of children, said 722 children went missing in the first three months of this year. Last year, this figure stood at 227 while a total of 1575 kids went missing in 2011.

NGO claims that the missing children are all the more prone to trafficking and abuse.

"As per information accessed through ZIPNet (software on which information about missing persons is uploaded by the police) the figure for the first three months is nearly half of the total children missing last year. We suspect that the children who have gone missing in the past might have been sold off to fake placement agencies," said Kailash Satyarthi, founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan.

Out of the 722 missing children, 404 are girls. "Overall, 218% increase has been registered in the cases of missing children in Delhi," said Satyarthi.

Maximum children have gone missing from areas under outer district police, which reported 101 such cases.

Delhi Police claims that a number of the missing children have already been traced. "We treat each complaint very seriously. Once traced, they are produced before the Child Welfare Committees and the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to further investigate the possible involvement of any organised gang in the case," said Rajan Bhagat, additional DCP and spokesperson, Delhi Police.

Delhi women and child welfare minister Kiran Walia said her department has been taking up such cases with the police.

"Central government has already set up an anti-trafficking cell. We want that the police should keep the women and child department in the loop about such cases," the minister said.