There is no inter-agency collaboration nor any direction to tackle this menace head on
I have just returned from Assam after holding the first ever march against child trafficking that traversed over 300 kilometres from Guwahati to Dhubri. There were several cases of child rights violations including trafficking, bonded labour and sexual exploitation that I came across while interacting with the villagers and other ordinary people. To cite an example, when we reached Hajo, a teary-eyed policeman approached us complaining that his seven-year-old kidnapped nephew was untraceable. If this is the condition of a policeman, you can well imagine the plight of a common man. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2,05,028 cases of missing children were recorded during 2009-11, out of which 6,739 were from the North East. Assam alone accounted for 4,019 such cases during the period in reference.
Among the core marchers were two girls and two boys who had gone missing in their early childhood. Jyoti (name changed) disappeared from her village in Assam’s Lakhimpur district when she was four. She was traced by her father after 12 years of relentless efforts. While Jyoti’s father recognised her, the girl had forgotten everything. Similarly Usha (name changed), who was kidnapped from her village in Lakhimpur district aged five remained untraced for eight years. She was sold from one employer to another in Delhi before being rescued by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) in November 2012. Two boys have been staying at Bachpan Bachao Andolan’s Bal Ashram for almost ten years now, because their parents could not be traced.
No definitive legislation on missing children, coupled with inaction, insensitivity and lack of adequate policing have further exacerbated the problem.
Missing children do not disappear into thin air. There is a definitive and predetermined purpose behind each child that goes missing. There exists an organised nexus between local agents, abductors, placement agencies, brothels, gang masters running rackets of forced beggary, mafias involved in organ trading and supplying young girls as child brides. Children are also abducted for being forced to work as combatants. There is no inter-agency collaboration, systematic information sharing and synchronisation between the law enforcement agencies, administrative bodies and child rights organisations.
Bachpan Bachao Andolan has been actively pursuing the judiciary at district, state and apex level for securing judgements and directions to protect and uphold the rights of children. This activism has yielded results. Taking Delhi as a case in point, FIRs are now being lodged and the rate of recovery of missing children has improved slightly when compared to the last few years. It has been possible only because of the strong intervention by the Delhi High Court. In March 2011, the Delhi High Court had directed the Delhi Government and Police to follow a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which included investigation, monitoring, follow-up and regular counselling of parents and the children that have been traced. Regretfully the SOP is not being adhered to in its true spirit and substance. The attitude and track record of state governments and the Central Government is even worse.
In March 2012, the Supreme Court of India issued notices to the Centre and state governments for setting an advanced scientific mechanism to investigate and recover missing children. On three occasions this year, the Apex Court directed the Centre and state governments to apprise them about the steps taken but there has been no response so far.
Despite strong advocacy efforts by the civil society and action demanded by concerned parliamentarians, the government has not taken any concrete steps to create a centralised database of missing children. Children missing from remote villages in one part of the country often land up as slaves in mines, stone quarries, restaurants, sweatshops and homes in the other parts of the country. Bonded child labourers, forced beggars and inmates at juvenile homes and children staying at shelter homes run by government and NGOs are most often children that have gone missing.
I have just returned from Assam after holding the first ever march against child trafficking that traversed over 300 kilometres from Guwahati to Dhubri. There were several cases of child rights violations including trafficking, bonded labour and sexual exploitation that I came across while interacting with the villagers and other ordinary people. To cite an example, when we reached Hajo, a teary-eyed policeman approached us complaining that his seven-year-old kidnapped nephew was untraceable. If this is the condition of a policeman, you can well imagine the plight of a common man. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2,05,028 cases of missing children were recorded during 2009-11, out of which 6,739 were from the North East. Assam alone accounted for 4,019 such cases during the period in reference.
Among the core marchers were two girls and two boys who had gone missing in their early childhood. Jyoti (name changed) disappeared from her village in Assam’s Lakhimpur district when she was four. She was traced by her father after 12 years of relentless efforts. While Jyoti’s father recognised her, the girl had forgotten everything. Similarly Usha (name changed), who was kidnapped from her village in Lakhimpur district aged five remained untraced for eight years. She was sold from one employer to another in Delhi before being rescued by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) in November 2012. Two boys have been staying at Bachpan Bachao Andolan’s Bal Ashram for almost ten years now, because their parents could not be traced.
No definitive legislation on missing children, coupled with inaction, insensitivity and lack of adequate policing have further exacerbated the problem.
Missing children do not disappear into thin air. There is a definitive and predetermined purpose behind each child that goes missing. There exists an organised nexus between local agents, abductors, placement agencies, brothels, gang masters running rackets of forced beggary, mafias involved in organ trading and supplying young girls as child brides. Children are also abducted for being forced to work as combatants. There is no inter-agency collaboration, systematic information sharing and synchronisation between the law enforcement agencies, administrative bodies and child rights organisations.
Bachpan Bachao Andolan has been actively pursuing the judiciary at district, state and apex level for securing judgements and directions to protect and uphold the rights of children. This activism has yielded results. Taking Delhi as a case in point, FIRs are now being lodged and the rate of recovery of missing children has improved slightly when compared to the last few years. It has been possible only because of the strong intervention by the Delhi High Court. In March 2011, the Delhi High Court had directed the Delhi Government and Police to follow a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which included investigation, monitoring, follow-up and regular counselling of parents and the children that have been traced. Regretfully the SOP is not being adhered to in its true spirit and substance. The attitude and track record of state governments and the Central Government is even worse.
In March 2012, the Supreme Court of India issued notices to the Centre and state governments for setting an advanced scientific mechanism to investigate and recover missing children. On three occasions this year, the Apex Court directed the Centre and state governments to apprise them about the steps taken but there has been no response so far.
Despite strong advocacy efforts by the civil society and action demanded by concerned parliamentarians, the government has not taken any concrete steps to create a centralised database of missing children. Children missing from remote villages in one part of the country often land up as slaves in mines, stone quarries, restaurants, sweatshops and homes in the other parts of the country. Bonded child labourers, forced beggars and inmates at juvenile homes and children staying at shelter homes run by government and NGOs are most often children that have gone missing.
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