HC directs state to file affidavit on steps taken to trace missing children, women

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government is duty bound to trace missing women and children, said the Bombay high court on Thursday, and directed the state to file an affidavit on measures taken by it to deal with such cases.
A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), filed by Shahaji Jagtap, a Sangli resident, seeking direction to the state police to trace more than one lakh women who went missing in the state between 2019 and 2021. Jagtap also claimed that the state authorities were not taking prompt action to trace them.
The court also sought a reply from the Government Railway Police (GRP) on measures taken to check human trafficking and suggestions from the Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) for curbing human trafficking.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Manjiri Parasnis on Thursday informed the court that Jagtap’s own daughter had gone missing.
While searching for her, he came across information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Lok Sabha on March 14, 2023, that the number of children reported missing in Maharashtra was very high.
According to him, in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the number of children reported missing in Maharashtra was 4,562; 3,356 and 4,129, respectively. Similarly, over one lakh cases of women aged 18 and above going missing were reported in the state during this period.
The court said there may be various causes of children and women going missing, but it is the duty of the state to trace them and protect them, and if necessary, give them safe custody.
“One of the reasons for such a staggering number of missing children and women, possibly, is the menace of human trafficking for which all authorities, including all government departments, police, railways, and others need to work together,” the bench said.
The court has posted the matter for further hearing on October 4.