Bengal's daughter
Girls go missing in West Bengal
Every year girls have disappeared from West Bengal. In response to an RTI petition, the West Bengal State Crime Records Bureau revealed that 11,651 children went missing in the year 2014, of which an overwhelming 73 per cent were girls. The South 24 Parganas district clocked the highest number of missing children (2,240) in the state. Among other districts, Murshidabad, Nadia, Howrah and Hooghly were the districts from where a large number of children went missing.
In a recent report of United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) on 'Anti Human Trafficking, 2013' revealed that out of 11,228 children reported missing in West Bengal in 2011, only 3,902 could be traced. The data were not different for previous two years [15,835 missing (traced 5,518) in 2010 and 11,527 missing (traced 3,355) in 2009]. The figures quoted by UNODC seems lower than the actual as they are based on police records and in several cases these are not reported.
West Bengal with a huge porous international border is not just prone to intra- and inter- state trafficking, but also to international trafficking. Also, the excellent network of railways, roadways, airways and waterways offer easy transit points. The huge trafficking trade is accustomed to treating poverty-ridden rural West Bengal as its catchment area. West Bengal has also emerged as a recruiting area for agents and traffickers for sending women and children to Middle East countries for various purposes of slavery.
Many activists, working against children trafficking, believe that lack of initiative on the part of the government to bust trafficking rackets in the bordering districts has led to an alarming increase in the number of children going missing in West Bengal.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has directed state governments to set up special Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in every district. Establishment of AHTUs in the states has shown results at the ground level resulting in increase in the number of cases registered, number of rescue operations and more convictions.
Images of Bengal, India
See Video:
India - Land of Missing Children (A Channel 4 Documentary)
Read More:
A trip to a part of Bengal where humans are bought and sold everyday
Blind Spot, The Telegraph, Friday, November 20, 2015
CHILDREN IN INDIA 2012 - A Statistical Appraisal
Ministry of statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India
Girls go missing in West Bengal
Number of missing children on the rise in West Bengal
India Needs 'Political Will' To Combat Trafficking of Girls
Bengal tops UN list of missing kids, women
Missing and trafficked - Social activists blame political unrest, lack of jobs
Bengal's daughter
Girls go missing in West Bengal
Every year girls have disappeared from West Bengal. In response to an RTI petition, the West Bengal State Crime Records Bureau revealed that 11,651 children went missing in the year 2014, of which an overwhelming 73 per cent were girls. The South 24 Parganas district clocked the highest number of missing children (2,240) in the state. Among other districts, Murshidabad, Nadia, Howrah and Hooghly were the districts from where a large number of children went missing.
In a recent report of United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) on 'Anti Human Trafficking, 2013' revealed that out of 11,228 children reported missing in West Bengal in 2011, only 3,902 could be traced. The data were not different for previous two years [15,835 missing (traced 5,518) in 2010 and 11,527 missing (traced 3,355) in 2009]. The figures quoted by UNODC seems lower than the actual as they are based on police records and in several cases these are not reported.
West Bengal with a huge porous international border is not just prone to intra- and inter- state trafficking, but also to international trafficking. Also, the excellent network of railways, roadways, airways and waterways offer easy transit points. The huge trafficking trade is accustomed to treating poverty-ridden rural West Bengal as its catchment area. West Bengal has also emerged as a recruiting area for agents and traffickers for sending women and children to Middle East countries for various purposes of slavery.
Many activists, working against children trafficking, believe that lack of initiative on the part of the government to bust trafficking rackets in the bordering districts has led to an alarming increase in the number of children going missing in West Bengal.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has directed state governments to set up special Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in every district. Establishment of AHTUs in the states has shown results at the ground level resulting in increase in the number of cases registered, number of rescue operations and more convictions.
Images of Bengal, India
See Video:
India - Land of Missing Children (A Channel 4 Documentary)
Read More:
A trip to a part of Bengal where humans are bought and sold everyday
Blind Spot, The Telegraph, Friday, November 20, 2015
CHILDREN IN INDIA 2012 - A Statistical Appraisal
Ministry of statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India
Girls go missing in West Bengal
Number of missing children on the rise in West Bengal
India Needs 'Political Will' To Combat Trafficking of Girls
Bengal tops UN list of missing kids, women
Missing and trafficked - Social activists blame political unrest, lack of jobs