Every day in 2022, 32-odd children went missing in Madhya Pradesh, of which more than 24 were girls, reveals Right to Information (RTI) data gathered and analysed by NGO Child Rights and You (CRY).
In all, 11,717 children went missing in the 54 districts of the state, of which 8,844 (75 per cent) were girls and 2,873 were boys, the RTI data gathered from state government and police shows.
CRY released the data on the eve of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons (July 30), with a positive note that though the total number of children who went missing increased slightly, there was a decline in the percentage of missing girls compared to 2021.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, in 2021, a total 11,607 kids had gone missing, of which 9,407 (81 per cent) were girls, while 2,200 were boys. Thus in 2022, a 6 per cent decline in the number of missing girls was achieved. However, the number of boys who went missing increased from 19 per cent to 25 per cent.
In all, from 2018 to 2022; 41,627 girls and 11,508 boys went missing in MP, the total number of missing kids being 53,125, the combined data of NCRB and RTI shows. The percentage of missing girls during these five years comes to over 78 per cent.
CRY has expressed concern on the continuing trend of a very high proportion of missing children being girls.
“Children who go missing are often an easy target of human trafficking. Fact Sheet reveals in MP, among the children who went missing in 2022 more than 75 percent were girls. It is a matter of grave concern that the trend of girls constituting a significantly higher proportion of missing children has persisted for the last five years”, said Soha Moitra, the Regional Director, CRY (North).
She further said “The phenomenon of missing girls constituting the larger portion of missing children could have been driven by increased demand for domestic helps, commercial sex work, and girls themselves running away due to domestic violence, abuse and neglect. Number of missing boys is also of a grave concern as demand for child labour has increased due to the shortage of cheap labour in the unorganised sector. Thus, indicating higher risk of child trafficking”.
She added “There are also cases of runaway girls who leave home at an early age in search of a better life without being aware of the possible consequences. These girls who mostly come from low-income and marginalized families many a times become easy targets for trafficking and kidnapping.”
Indore and Bhopal reported highest number of cases in the state
According to the RTI-based factsheet released by CRY, Indore and Bhopal reported highest number of missing children cases in the state in 2022. Indore registered 977 cases of missing children, while Bhopal registered 661 cases of missing children in 2022. Data also revealed that the prevalence of missing children cases was more in urban areas compared to rural areas.
36% rise in cases of child trafficking in MP – NCRB
The CRY also analysed the NCRB data to show that MP also recorded 36 per cent rise in registered child trafficking in the year 2021 compared to previous year with the number of child trafficking cases increased from 33 (2020) to 52 in 2021.
Since missing children are at higher risk of being trafficked, major difference in the registered cases of missing children and number of trafficked children also raises serious concern, said CRY.
Only 34% traced in 2022
The RTI data by CRY showed that in 2022, of the 11,717 missing kids, only 3,974 (34 per cent) were found, while 7,698 remained untraced.
The NCRB data gives out the number of missing children traced year wise, but these figures include the children missing from previous years too and thus it is difficult to get the actual percentage of children traced. From 2018 to 2021, according to NCRB, total 42,970 kids were traced in the state, including 34,104 girls and 8,956 boys.
“The fact that the number of missing children being rescued is also highest in the country in MP shows the system's promptness. However, there is still a huge gap in the number of children who went missing and children being rescued or traced. Over more than a decade of CRY’s work on the issue of missing children, it has been observed that although there have been many proactive measures taken by different departments and authorities, there have been several constraints due to which the situation has remained more or less the same,” said Moitra.
Moitra also said that the United Nations has announced theme of this year’s World Day against Trafficking in Persons as ‘reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind’.
“The need of the hour is to act even more promptly and following the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for cases of missing children stringently. Considering the potential risk of a missing child falling into the trap of traffickers, the SOP clearly states that if a child cannot be traced within a period of four months, the investigation of the case shall be transferred to the Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTUs) in the district. At the same time, there should be adequate resources allocated towards strengthening the AHTUs and make sure they work in tandem with all concerned stakeholders,” she said.
Congress attacks BJP govt
Citing the figures presented in Lok Sabha by union minister of women and child development Smriti Irani, MP Congress has slammed the BJP government in the state. In-charge of the various organizations and cells of the state Congress, Shobha Oza, said that as per figures presented in Lok Sabha, as many as 61102 kids went missing in the state between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2023, of which 49,024 are girls and 12,075 boys (3 missing kids categorised as ‘others’), which is highest in the country.
“This is frightening data and exposes the situation safety of kids in MP. It also exposes the fact that the dramatic chief minister of MP tries to mislead the young people when the truth is something different. If the CM has any shame left, he should apologise to the people of the state after release of this data; and make public the action taken and future plan of the government regards missing children,” Oza said in a statement.
Retorting, BJP spokesman Narendra Saluja said Congress was spreading lies about missing children. “You should study the statistics of Shivraj government's Operation Muskaan (for recovery of missing children). From January 2021 to February 2023, 9329 girls have returned to their homes safely due to the efforts of the government. You should rather tell the status of your 15 month government as to how many children went missing during that period and what efforts were made by your government to bring them back,” he said in a tweet.
Missing children trend in Madhya Pradesh in last 5 years
| Year | Girls | Boys | Total |
| 2018 | 7545 | 2464 | 10038 |
| 2019 | 8572 | 2450 | 11022 |
| 2020 | 7230 | 1521 | 8751 |
| 2021 | 9407 | 2200 | 11607 |
| 2022 | 8844 | 2873 | 11717 |
Source: NCRB (2018-2021) and RTIs (2022)
Top 5 districts in terms of missing children in Madhya Pradesh in 2022
| District | Boys | Girls | Total |
| Indore | 245 | 732 | 977 |
| Bhopal | 225 | 436 | 661 |
| Dhar | 84 | 470 | 554 |
| Jabalpur | 177 | 427 | 604 |
| Sagar | 115 | 346 | 461 |