What do cops mean by man missing case: Madras high court

Chennai: Unable to understand as to how an offence which is not stated in Indian Penal Code has been invented by police officers and FIRs are registered as "man missing" case or "woman missing" case, the Madras high court has posed 11 queries to be answered by the Union and Tamil Nadu governments and the DGP.

 A division bench comprising Justices N. Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose posed the queries on a habeas corpus petition filed by a person, whose daughter went missing from February 14, 2019.

 The bench said it was shocking to note that young girls especially minors were eloping with married persons/aged persons. Previously, this court clubbed many of these kinds of cases and posted as group of matters in which the minor/young girls eloped with aged/married persons and raised a set of queries. In this case, the petitioner's daughter was said to have been undergoing an undergraduate degree in a college. On January 16, 2019, she went to college from home stating that she would return on February 14, 2019, as she was a hosteller. Since she neither returned nor there was a call from her, the petitioner contacted her and she replied that she was with her uncle, who was already married and having a child and intended to live with him. Hence, the petitioner lodged a complaint on February 14. Since no action has been taken, the petitioner was before this court, the bench added.

 The bench said it was seen that so far no FIR has been registered and only CSR has been given by the police. This court was unable to understand as to why the police has not registered FIR in this case. In these types of cases, the police officers use to register the case as "a man missing case" or "a girl missing case" or "a woman missing case". However, to a query the advocates who were present in the court replied that there was no provision in the IPC for "man or woman missing". However, the police were mechanically registering the FIR as "man or woman missing case".  Everyday, before this court, a number of HCPs were filed to produce as missing of man, woman and children. When there was no offence as "man missing" in the IPC, it should have been brought to the notice of the policy makers so that appropriate Act would be amended to include new provision for "man, woman or children missing cases", the bench added.

  The bench said assistant solicitor general G.Karthikeyan brought to the notice of the court regarding section 174 Cr.P.C under which enquiry shall be conducted by the police regarding suicide etc., He submitted that section 174 Cr.P.C. could be amended to include cases of missing persons so that an enquiry in man missing cases shall also be conducted, the bench added.

  Elaborating the contents of section 174 Cr.P.C., the bench said after enquiry under this section, cases would be registered as either suicide or murder of a person. In man missing cases also, it was not known as to whether the missing person was alive or not and what were all the reasons for his disappearance. Therefore, section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure should be amended to include man missing cases under this provision so that an enquiry could be conducted, the bench added and suo motu impleaded Union and state governments and DGP and posed 11 queries.