More than 4 thousand cases of missing daughters have been reported in Madhya Pradesh in the last four years, but the police has not been able to trace most of them. This data is from January 2021 to December 2024, and there is also suspicion of human trafficking.
By Prashant Pandey
Published Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2025 08:53:45 AM (IST)
Updated Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2025 09:01:41 AM (IST)
HighLights
- The number of missing daughters is increasing due to lack of police force and negligence.
- The situation in Madhya Pradesh in cases of human trafficking is very worrying.
- Of the girls who were forcibly taken away, the police found only 659.
State Bureau, Naiduniya, Bhopal (Crime Against Women). Of the girls who go missing every year in Madhya Pradesh, about 25 percent are not found by the police. The police have completely failed to find more than four thousand girls who went missing in the last four years.
This data is from January 2021 to December 2024. There is also suspicion of human trafficking. This is like a stain on the forehead of the state. The reason is that the government is running many schemes like Ladli Lakshmi Yojana and Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao for the advancement of daughters, but the police system of the state is not able to reach the missing daughters.
A major reason for this is the lack of police force. The police also conducts Operation ‘Muskaan’ twice a year from 2021 to search for girl children.
The number of missing girls is increasing
The number of missing girls is continuously increasing. By the end of the year 2024, 15 thousand 671 girls were missing including old and new cases. Of these, the police searched for 11 thousand 670 girls through Operation Muskaan and other means, but still more than four thousand are not known.
There is a possibility of their kidnapping for human trafficking. Let us tell you that in the year 2024 alone, 10 thousand 400 cases of kidnapping of girls and women have been registered.
Now if we talk about women, the number of them missing is in thousands. The surprising thing is that if no crime has been committed against the woman, there is no provision for filing an FIR.
Police searched for 659 girls who were forcibly taken away.
Under Operation Muskaan, 12 thousand 567 girls were searched between January 2021 and February 2024, out of which 659 were forcibly taken away.
630 girls were forcibly taken away by criminals for sexual exploitation, 17 for bonded labor and 12 for employment. 2,389 girls reported that they had gone with their boyfriend. Two girls were kidnapped for ransom.
need to increase police force
An important aspect in preventing crimes against women is the presence of police on the road. After the girls go missing, the will power and sufficient force of the police is necessary to find them. As much force as is allowed should be given, there is also a need to increase the force as per requirement. If such incidents are happening more in cities then the police’s activeness should be seen very clearly. The second thing is that any officer or employee who commits wrong in the police must be removed from service, otherwise crimes will not reduce. – Arun Gurtu, retired DG, Police, Madhya Pradesh
