Mid-Day

Today is International Missing Children’s Day. This includes children who run away as well as those who become part of the human trafficking chain. Sunday MiD DAY explores their story through these shocking numbers

Nearly 4,065 children went missing in the city in 2007. Around 44,475 children go missing in the country every year. Despite NGOs and police stations sending photographs and information of children to different parts of the country, the numbers are just not going down.

In fact, NGOs claim that the number of children reported missing has been increasing in the last few years.

Snehal Rane, part of project Talash by Balprafulta, explains that it is easier to reunite kids who get lost and come to the NGO than parents who come to authorities looking for their lost child. “In the latter case, nobody knows where the child has gone.

So the chance of reuniting the child with the family is negligible,” laments Rane, who also adds athat over 80 per cent of children who come to the NGO are reunited with their families.

State tops missing children list

According to Missing Children, a booklet published by Childline India Foundation, late last year, the average number of children missing in Maharashtra is 83,283 (from 1996-2001), followed by Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. The report also states a staggering figure of 25,091 children registered missing in the same six years in Mumbai alone. And out of this 3,300 are yet to be found.

Max kids go missing from Shivaji Nagar

However, Mumbai Joint Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria says he has noticed a decrease in the number of missing children in Mumbai. “In 2006, 4,297 kids were missing, while in 2007 it came down to 3,748,” he says. As for the worst affected areas in the city, police say Shivaji Nagar tops the list, followed by other areas like Goregaon, Saki Naka, Nagpada and Wadala, while Marine Drive, Azad Maidan and Cuffe Parade police stations receive the least number of missing complaints.

Many are found at railway stations as they are the entry points to the city for the outstation children. In a 2004 National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) study, railway stations were shown to act as a second home for missing children. The GRP (Government Railway Police) record indicates 317 missing children were reported in 2007, out of which 279 were from outside Mumbai. This year (till April 30) itself, the police got 123 cases, in which 112 were outstation children. The highest number of outstation-missing children reported in a railway police station was surprising found in Borivli since last year. 

Tracing missing children

Explaining the procedure post-tracking the missing child, GRP commissioner AK Sharma says that when the railway police find a missing child, he/she is taken to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Dongri, which decides the child’s fate. If the child is unable to offer any information, the child is placed in the children’s home. However, if the child is able to give the address or the location of his/her home, the parents are either summoned to the children’s home or escorted to his/her home by NGO members.

Snehal Rane points out that the maximum number of missing children who come to the city can be found in Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (VT, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Mumbai Central. The age group of run away children varies from 10 to 16, while trafficked kids can span from one month to 17 years.

NGO links up

Interestingly, taking advantage of technology, an Indore-based NGO National Centre for Missing Children began a website www.missingindiankids.com in 2000, where parents or police can post the photo of their missing child.

“Our aim is to disseminate the photos to as many people as possible so that somebody is able to identify the child as missing and report it to the police,” says Anuj Bhargav, the NGO’s trustee. There are around 159 missing children from western zone alone registered in the website.

Apart from the website, the NGO sends out a newsletter to 1,60,000 people with a poster of a missing child twice a month. In spite of the site receiving 10-15,000 hits every day, the website has been able to help unite only four children to their families.

Point of reasons

According to RPF Sr PI Yash Mishra, Mumbai Central, most children say they’re attracted to the glamour of the city, aspire to become an actor/ actress, have eloped with lovers, want a taste of freedom or come in search of better paying jobs. Working closely with an NGO Saathi, Mishra says that they register around 40 to 42 kids between the age group of four years to 15 years every year.

“However, there are times when we aren’t able to rescue trafficked children because pimps become cautious after seeing a uniformed officer,” he says.

There is also a category of children who run away because of poor economic conditions back home or for being repeatedly abused by their parents.

Childline India Foundation’s Nishit Kumar, who was part of the team that brought out the booklet, points out that most children in the missing category belong to eastern UP and Northern Bihar. Kumar says, “A couple of years ago, we had carried out a raid along with government officials, where we gathered 15,000 kids forced into child labour. Out of this, 80 per cent came from four districts of Northern Bihar.” Labelling them as the root districts, Kumar says that the NGO has set up special district model operations in these districts.

Agreeing with him, Mishra chips in by stating that most missing kids that they find are from north India but there are also kids coming from Satara, Kolhapur and other nearby districts of Mumbai.

Reunited?

Dr Shaila Mhatre, chairperson, Child Welfare Committee, says, “We try to find a home — foster homes or adoption — for the child even if the child doesn’t or cannot find his/her family. This way the child will get a family.” As a result, nearly 70 per cent are reunited with their parents. The Dongri children’s home had roughly above 2,000 missing children in 2007 and a little over 500 children in the last five months, this year.

Even GRP records display a moderate success ratio in reuniting the children to their family. For instance, in 2007 out of the total missing kids, 226 kids have been reunited, while 60 kids have been sent back to their homes, this year.

Oasis India, which has been working in the area of anti-human trafficking project for the last 13 years, set up South Asia South Asia Centre for Missing and Exploited Persons (SACMEP) last year. The NGO, which comes into play before the pre-sale, has rescued around 125 people since June 2007, out of which 40 per cent are minors.

Ranjeet Chougule, an advocate and member, Oasis India, says, “We trace the children at various entry points, mostly railway stations, before they are sold. And we have been able to reunite around 65-68 per cent of the children.”

Even Balprafulta’s project Talash has been able to reunite nearly 80 per cent the cases. Chougule adds, “The number of missing children has risen because more and more parents are registering complaints, especially in urban areas.

In fact, post Nithari, the missing cases in the area have tripled.” 

Interestingly, when it comes to gender of the missing children, all the NGOs are unanimous in stating that, although boys constitute the major portion, it’s easier for boys to reunite with their family then girls. “This is because once the girl goes missing, the family doesn’t accept her back due to social stigma,” says Rane. 

Legal hassle

But the job comes with its share of frustration and hard work. “There is no legislation that protects especially dealing with missing children. Though law makes presumptions in other areas, when it comes to missing children this is lacking,” voices Chougule.

He adds that the US has passed legislation in this area and has set up a national centre for missing kids.