Trace them out

Despite evoking a heated debate in the legislative assembly, the authorities have failed to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing children. According to a report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) around 1897 children have mysteriously gone missing from Jammu Kashmir since 2008. Of the 1897 unfortunate children 1371 belong to Jammu division and 526 from the valley. The data shows alarming increase in crimes against children in the state despite repeated advisories of the government of India. The data also reveals that on an average one child has gone missing daily since 2008. The report reveals that 490 children went missing in the state last year. The law enforcing agencies were able to trace out 235, and 255 remained untraced. Among the traced, 126 were males and 109 female. Only 139 cases, according to the report were registered out of which only 49 cases were charge sheeted by the police. The police arrested 122 persons. However, nobody has been held guilty till date. The number of children who went missing in 2013 was 431. The number of disappearances last year registered a considerable decline. Only 56 children have gone missing out of which 29 were traced back, 27 however remain untraced. Those traced included 18 male and 11 female, while untraced included 8 male and 10 female children. The percentage of missing children in the state stands at 29.7 percent. Jammu and Kashmir holds the seventh spot among the other states of India with West Bengal topping the list. Worried parents have blamed successive state governments for the increase in the number of missing children. According to them, the government has failed to take adequate measures for protecting the children. The missing children from Kashmir division came into limelight following High Court intervention on Mehraan disappearance. The case was finally handed over to the CBI but nothing came out. It has been reliably learnt that the police has closed down the case as untraced. There is need to take tangible measures for protecting the children. Besides strict vigil by the security agencies, the parents too have a vital role to play.