State told to file report on missing children

Justice U D Salvi,while heaing the case,observed,“According to the figures that have been given by the police,there are around 16,000 missing children in Maharashtra alone. Committees are formed when a major incident occurs,but nothing happens. What exactly are the police doing to trace such children?”

The High Court had passed an order in September 2009 directing the state government to form a committee headed by the Director General of Police to handle the cases of missing children across the state. During the hearing on Friday,the court has asked it to file a report on the status of this committee and its action plan.

“It is difficult to tell what happens to these children. One does not know if they are taken across the border,or if they are forced into flesh trade or other such activities. It is a very serious matter,” Justice Salvi observed.

In the present case,the petitioner’s son has been untraceable since September 18,2006. The boy’s family subsequently lodged a complaint with the police and published advertisements in major newspapers,but to no avail.

The family lives in the jurisdiction of the Nehru Nagar police station,which was in controversy over incidents of rape and murder of three school girls last year.

The court has given the state government two week’s time to file its report.