115 children missing in Ghaziabad in 2011
16 May 2012 8:00 AM GMT
Delhi NCR's Ghaziabad has once again proved why it is being referred to as notorious. In a recent reply to an RTI filed by an NGO, Prerna Sewa Sansthan, the police had revealed that in the last year 115 children went missing from Ghaziabad.
As per statistics revealed, one child goes missing every three days in Ghaziabad in 2012. However, from June 2009 to June 2011, there were 117 children missing from Ghaziabad.
In its reply to the RTI, Ghaziabad police have stated that 251 children went missing in 2011, out of which only 136 children were found by the police. But, according to sources from the police department, these figures were merely official statistics and that the numbers of missing children could actually be double. Apparently, many parents do not report missing case for fear of society, police harassment and, at times, they just assume, particularly in the cases of young girls, elopement.
Prerna Sewa Sansthan, founder Acharya Tarun said, 'There must be many reasons for children going missing in our city. The criminals must be using them for begging, body organs, medical experiment, human trafficking and child labour. We never know that there can be another Nithari village, where humans are eaten by humans. The children of the city are not safe. Any child can be kidnapped any day and anytime from Ghaziabad.'
Out of 11 police stations that replied to RTI, Indirapuram, one of the posh colonies in Ghaziabad, has the most number of missing children - 42 children.
Meanwhile, Muradnagar and Kavi Nagar have only one children missing from their area in the last year.
Kishan Veer, whose son had gone missing in Muradnagar, said, 'Our son, Nishu, went missing early last year and he was 14 years old. We have filed a report with the police but to no avail. The police officers were least concerned of our missing child.'
Child labour is also widely prevalent in Ghaziabad. Children are being employed as household help, at tea shops and factories. On conditions of anonymity, an official from Ghaziabad police said, 'Many children from here are being sent illegally to Bihar and Haryana.' On the other hand, sources also revealed that many children from Assam,West Bengal and Bihar are being trafficked into Ghaziabad as well.
When Virender Singh Rathore, the PRO of Ghaziabad Police, was contacted, he said, 'We follow the procedures for any report we receive for a missing child. We send the details to all the districts with a photograph of the child. This way, we have found a lot of missing child.'
Meanwhile, Supreme Court recently issued notices to the Centre and state governments on a PIL for setting up of an advanced scientific mechanism to investigate and recover missing children. According to an NGO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, between January 2008 and January 2010, over 1.17 lakh children have gone missing in 392 districts in India. Out of them, 41,546 are still untraced.
DELHI WAY AHEAD
As many as 14 kids go missing in the Capital daily, which is an alarming eight per cent of the national total for such cases.
The Union Home Ministry data says 5,111 children disappeared in the city last year. There’s no end to the disappearing acts as 1,146 children have already gone missing till 15 April this year. It’s another first that the government’s figures are three times higher than the 1,575 missing children for 2011 that the Bachpan Bachao Andalon, an NGO, claimed earlier. It’s not hard to gauge the gravity of the situation because the ministry’s figures make another horrifying revelation that there is no trace of 1,359 of the 5,111 missing children in 2011.
Residents of Delhi’s Madanpur Khadar complained that 33 children from their area have gone missing over the last one year.
As per statistics revealed, one child goes missing every three days in Ghaziabad in 2012. However, from June 2009 to June 2011, there were 117 children missing from Ghaziabad.
In its reply to the RTI, Ghaziabad police have stated that 251 children went missing in 2011, out of which only 136 children were found by the police. But, according to sources from the police department, these figures were merely official statistics and that the numbers of missing children could actually be double. Apparently, many parents do not report missing case for fear of society, police harassment and, at times, they just assume, particularly in the cases of young girls, elopement.
Prerna Sewa Sansthan, founder Acharya Tarun said, 'There must be many reasons for children going missing in our city. The criminals must be using them for begging, body organs, medical experiment, human trafficking and child labour. We never know that there can be another Nithari village, where humans are eaten by humans. The children of the city are not safe. Any child can be kidnapped any day and anytime from Ghaziabad.'
Out of 11 police stations that replied to RTI, Indirapuram, one of the posh colonies in Ghaziabad, has the most number of missing children - 42 children.
Meanwhile, Muradnagar and Kavi Nagar have only one children missing from their area in the last year.
Kishan Veer, whose son had gone missing in Muradnagar, said, 'Our son, Nishu, went missing early last year and he was 14 years old. We have filed a report with the police but to no avail. The police officers were least concerned of our missing child.'
Child labour is also widely prevalent in Ghaziabad. Children are being employed as household help, at tea shops and factories. On conditions of anonymity, an official from Ghaziabad police said, 'Many children from here are being sent illegally to Bihar and Haryana.' On the other hand, sources also revealed that many children from Assam,West Bengal and Bihar are being trafficked into Ghaziabad as well.
When Virender Singh Rathore, the PRO of Ghaziabad Police, was contacted, he said, 'We follow the procedures for any report we receive for a missing child. We send the details to all the districts with a photograph of the child. This way, we have found a lot of missing child.'
Meanwhile, Supreme Court recently issued notices to the Centre and state governments on a PIL for setting up of an advanced scientific mechanism to investigate and recover missing children. According to an NGO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, between January 2008 and January 2010, over 1.17 lakh children have gone missing in 392 districts in India. Out of them, 41,546 are still untraced.
DELHI WAY AHEAD
As many as 14 kids go missing in the Capital daily, which is an alarming eight per cent of the national total for such cases.
The Union Home Ministry data says 5,111 children disappeared in the city last year. There’s no end to the disappearing acts as 1,146 children have already gone missing till 15 April this year. It’s another first that the government’s figures are three times higher than the 1,575 missing children for 2011 that the Bachpan Bachao Andalon, an NGO, claimed earlier. It’s not hard to gauge the gravity of the situation because the ministry’s figures make another horrifying revelation that there is no trace of 1,359 of the 5,111 missing children in 2011.
Residents of Delhi’s Madanpur Khadar complained that 33 children from their area have gone missing over the last one year.
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