Delhi Reports 1900 Children Missing In Past Four Months, 2% Increase In Cases Compared To 2021

In the past four months, Delhi has reported around 1879 children missing. As per the recently-released data, the Delhi police have reported that the maximum number of missing children were aged between 12-18 years.

As per the statistics, 1583 children within the age group of 12-18 went missing in the past four months, accounting for a 2% increase compared to last year. With 138 kids missing in the age group of 0-8 years, the police noted a decrease of 10% compared to the previous year. However, the police reported 158 children missing within 8-11 years of age.

Tracking Missing Children Using Software

The Delhi police were able to track down 1,178 children. They traced 980 children within the 12-18 age group, 106 within 8-12 years and 92 in 0-8 years.However, the Delhi police have credited ZIPNET, missing persons and facial recognition system software in tracing the missing children. They informed that they would often visit other states and comb shelter homes to look for missing children.

Talking to the media, an officer revealed, "sometimes the families don't even have photographs of the children, so we have to search for them with the help of other clues," quoted The Times of India.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police Asadharan Karya Puraskar has proved to be a motivational incentive for the cops.

"Parents Need To Be More Vigilant Towards Their Children", Police Officer

A member of the Child Protection Committee informed that the most common reason behind the disappearances was the elopement of girls. Along with lack of parental care and parents not being able to notice a change in their kid's behaviors or outsiders' behavior towards them.

Another primary reason is a fascination with specific places. In a recent case, the Crime Branch anti-trafficking unit tracked down two missing sisters who had come to Mumbai to try their luck in movies.

Covid 19 pandemic has also significantly impacted the cases of missing children. A police officer said that children stayed at home during the pandemic and connected to people via social media. However, they continued to remain stuck in those friendships. Following this, people would set up meetings with the children and then they would never return.

The police officer also said that the parents need to be vigilant toward their children and a community-wide awareness about missing children needs to be spread.

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