NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report which highlighted the fact that a huge number of cases of missing persons are pending in Bihar, a majority of whom are children.
The media report states that between 12,000 and 14,000 cases of missing persons are registered every year in the state of Bihar since 2013. However, only two-thirds of the missing children have been found so far.
The NHRC has observed that “the matter is of serious concern to the Commission”. The contents of the media report, if true, reveal serious violations of human rights. The Commission is also concerned about the fact that even after taking various measures to deal with the issue of missing persons, the number of such cases is increasing while only a few cases are being successfully solved.”
According to the report, based on data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), it was observed that the highest numbers of human trafficking cases were registered in Odisha, Bihar, Telangana, and Maharashtra. Among these states, Odisha reported the highest numbers of cases related to the trafficking of minor boys, followed by Bihar. In the case of trafficking of minor girls, the highest numbers of incidents were reported in Rajasthan.
The media report, which was released on March 9, 2026, also raised concerns that some of these missing children could be engaged in illegal activities such as begging, child labour, prostitution, etc.
To address this issue, the NHRC has directed the Chief Secretaries of Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, along with their respective Directors General of Police, to provide information on this issue within two weeks.