NEW DELHI, HYDERABAD: Over 13.13 lakh girls and women went missing in the country in three years — between 2019 and 2021 — with Madhya Pradesh accounting for the highest at nearly two lakh, closely followed by West Bengal.
According to data tabled by the Union home ministry in Parliament last week, 10,61,648 women above 18 years and 2,51,430 girls below 18 years of age went missing between 2019 and 2021. The data, compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), stated that 1,60,180 women and 38,234 girls went missing in the three years in Madhya Pradesh, 1,56,905 women and 36,606 girls in West Bengal and in Maharashtra, 1,78,400 women and 13,033 girls.
The Telangana state police stated that 87 per cent of missing girls and women had been traced in the state. It was found that cases of missing of girls and women in the state were not linked to any serious criminal activities such as trafficking for sexual exploitation, child labour, bonded labour, begging and child marriage, among others. The recovery figures in Telangana state are greater than the national average of 62 per cent.
“The police department has been registering all cases of missing persons and taking up investigations immediately. Telangana is among the top states as far as tracing missing persons is concerned,” a Telangana police official claimed.
The government also informed Parliament that it had taken a number of initiatives for the safety of women across the country, including the enactment of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act to allow even more stringent penal provisions, including death penalty, for the rape of girls below the age of 12 years. It mandated completion of investigation and filing of charge sheets in rape cases within two months and trials to be completed in another two months.
