Missing children issue: NHRC notices to Home Secretary, CS

The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday issued notices to Union Home Secretary and Delhi Chief Secretary asking them to submit a report on the issue of 17,305 children allegedly going missing in Delhi in the past two years, out of which 2,366 are yet to be traced.

The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday issued notices to Union Home Secretary and Delhi Chief Secretary asking them to submit a report on the issue of 17,305 children allegedly going missing in Delhi in the past two years, out of which 2,366 are yet to be traced.

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Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports on missing children in the national capital, the Commission in its proceedings ton Tuesday observed that the contents of media reports, if true, raise serious issue of violation of human rights of children and negligence on the part of the State to provide protection to them.

In this connection, the Commission issued notices to Union Home Secretary GK Pillai and Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta calling for their detailed reports in the matter within four weeks.

The reports were based on the information given by the Minister of State for Home Affairs Guru Das Kamath in reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

"The Commission also considered media reports alleging organised crime behind missing children. According to reports, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had unearthed a nexus of organised crime with identification of over 800 gangs engaged in child trafficking," the NHRC said in a statement.

The involvement of gangs in abduction of children came on record when the CBI told the Delhi High Court in 2006 that there were 815 gangs comprising 4,289 members involved in the kidnapping of children for prostitution, begging and ransom in India. The report further alleged that over 60,000 children were missing in India in the year 2009, the statement said.