Appalling neglect of missing women cases

It is a matter of grave concern that at least 485 women who went missing from Bengaluru in the past 12 years remain untraced. A majority of them were under the age of 22. Among those missing are 20 underage girls who had been placed in juvenile homes. Up to 70% of missing women are from economically backward families, which do not have the wherewithal to follow up regularly with the police.

According to the police, women disappear for a variety of reasons, including love affairs, family problems and financial difficulties. Some are kidnapped, murdered, or trafficked. In some instances, particularly in cases of elopement in which the missing women return, the family fails to inform the police. However, this only appears to be a lame excuse, for if the police constantly monitored a complaint, they would come to know when a missing woman returned home and would not have to depend on the family for information.

The police have always adopted a lackadaisical attitude towards investigating complaints about missing persons, not just in Karnataka but also across India. In 2010, the Karnataka High Court directed the then Director General of Police (DGP) to personally appear before it and explain the snail-paced investigation when it came to missing girls.

The bench, which sought to know why the DGP himself should not take interest in such cases since the trafficking of women was high, observed that the investigation was ‘soft’, with the complainant receiving only a routine reply from the police. In 2013, the Delhi High Court drew up a slew of guidelines to be followed in cases relating to missing children, insisting that the police be equipped with modern techniques, including cyber-enabled investigation tools.

Though a standard operating procedure (SoP) is in place, many police officers are either unaware of it or wantonly ignore it. Often, officers assume that the missing girls have eloped and do not start investigations immediately. This could prove costly when a girl is kidnapped or trafficked. In these technology-enabled days, tracing a missing person should not be a difficult task, but such cases are never given priority.

While the government should set up a state-level task force to constantly monitor all missing person complaints, the DGP should pay attention to the matter, as directed by the High Court. The fact that the police are clueless about hundreds of missing women points to their inefficiency. It is high time Home Minister G Parameshwara cracked the whip and set the house in order.