Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 4
A recent report tabled during the Rajya Sabha assembly session on July 26 revealed that the entire state of Nagaland reported only 1 case of children gone missing between the period of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. This was according to data collected through the TrackChild Portal for state/ union territory wise number of missing children in the county.
The report shared by Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani added that 58,546 cases of missing children were reported across the country during the same period. West Bengal had the highest number of such cases at 13,591 followed by Madhya Pradesh at 12, 679 and Karnataka with 5494.
Surprisingly, the ADCP of Dimapur Police (Women &Juvenile) Dr Tiamenla Phom had mentioned during an event on July 28 that on an average, 3 persons (women and children) go missing every day in Dimapur. “Among the cases registered with us, 70% constituted of children below 18 years of age,” she had said at that time. At the same time, 80% of these cases were successfully traced by the police.
Meanwhile, Legal cum Probation Officer (LCPO) Moajungla had also stated that 83% of missing individuals were below 18 years in Nagaland, with 13% of the missing cases attributed to trafficking,
This huge discrepancy between the Parliamentary report and the one given by the Dimapur police leaves questions whether it is a case of under-reporting of data by the state.
Reliable sources substantiated this by revealing that the state police do not report such cases at the TrackChild portal. In addition, the Dimapur police report on missing persons has been taken based on recent trends in the last few months and not over a whole period.
Nevertheless, the actual data on could indicate a much higher rate than the one reported by the Central Ministry, the source added.
