Missing kids’ cases up 40%

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 26

Recent cases of mob lynching on the suspicion of being child-lifters are definitely deplorable and condemnable, but the issue of kidnapping and abduction of children across the country continues to haunt people, as the latest government data suggests a steep rise of more than 40 per cent in such crimes between 2014 and 2016.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows that the reported rate of child abductions has increased at a far sharper pace than the overall crime rate in the country. It further reveals that the share of child kidnapping in overall cases has also climbed to 60 per cent in 2016 when compared to 2014 figures.

In 2014, the NCRB data shows that 38,555 children were abducted, whereas in 2016 the crimes related to child-lifting rose to 54,328. Even in 2015 there existed an increasing trend with 42,993 children being abducted across the country.

As per the NCRB data, the National Capital Territory of Delhi, where the responsibility of the police and the public order rest with the Union government, is fast becoming the “crime capital of India” too. When asked about the whopping rise in cases kidnapping and abduction of children, a senior MHA official said, “The police and the public order are state subjects, and thus the protection of life and property of citizens rests primarily with states.”