1228 kids went missing in 3 years from Telangana, only 440 were traced

Hyderabad: The Centre told Parliament that 1,228 children had gone missing in Telangana from 2019 to 2021, of whom 440 had been traced. This is an abysmal low of around 36 per cent as against the national average of 89 per cent missing children traced across the country, the Union ministry of women and child development told the Lok Sabha.

Of the 1,40,575 children who went missing across the country for the same period, 1,25,445 had been traced.

The ministry also told Parliament that the rate of persons convicted in cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act has decreased by 16 per cent for 2021.

It said 100 persons were convicted in 2021 against 120 in 2020 and 108 in 2019. In comparison, 2,698 Pocso cases registered in 2021; 2,074 in 2020 and 1,998 in 2019.

Nationwide, 6,080 persons were convicted in Pocso cases.

The ministry did not specify the reasons for Pocso Act cases ending in acquittal, stating that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) did not maintain the details separately.