40 percent of India’s missing children are never found

World Today

Rajkumar has been looking for his daughter for more than four years. He has been on his toes since she stepped out to buy an ice-cream and never returned.

Mobina and Manzoor are in the same boat. Unending rounds to the police station and courts are of no avail. They live with memories of Yasmeen.

The problem of missing children continues to grow. According to estimates the number of children missing every day from Delhi has increased from 14 every day to 18 in the last few years.

Lack of a safety net for protecting children, especially children of the poor, is a reason for the rise in the numbers of missing children. There is also reluctance of police to register cases.

Democratic India has failed to protect the rights of children even after six decades of independence. The onus of this lies not just on the authorities but also the society which treats its children as secondary citizens.

40% of India’s missing children are never found

Rajkumar has been looking for his daughter for over four years. She had stepped out to buy an ice-cream and never returned. Since then he has been on his toes.