A tale of Orissa’s missing daughters

Jose K Joseph

Post News Network

Bhubaneswar: Amid tall talks about protection and welfare of girl child, it is heartening to see the official data which says that about 2,000 girls go missing in the state every year. Studies conducted by several NGOs, however, claimed that the actual number of cases of missing girls would be shockingly high if unreported cases from rural and remote pockets of Orissa are taken into account.

According to sources available with Home department, most of the cases of missing girls were reported in Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Koraput, Balasore, Bhadrak, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Nayagarh districts. What is more appalling is that many of these missing girls are trafficked for prostitution, marriage, illegal adoption, child labour, begging and even recruited to armed groups and circus parties.

Some top officials told Orissa POST that Maoist and Naxal outfits are recruiting these girls and often using them as shield in their fight with security forces. The Eleventh Five year plan also spoke about the large number of missing children. According to the report, every year around 44,000 children go missing in India.

When contacted, Tapan Padhi, child rights activist and founder of Child Right, a city-based NGO, informed Orissa POST that according to the studies of Child Right more than 30,000 girls had gone missing in the past one decade and the officials are purposefully trying to hide the harsh truth.

“More than 30,000 girls have gone missing in the state during the last decade. Most of these cases were not reported as many of the victims’ kin are poor. We’ve conducted many awareness programmes and have decided to send RTI requests to all the superintendents of police (SPs) seeking details about the issue,” Padhi said.

Another leading activist and former member of State Commission for Women Namrata Chadha said, “Nobody has conducted a proper updated study on this issue for which it is impossible to find the actual number of missing cases of girls in the state. Unfortunately, some parents are least bothered about their missing daughters and there are so many cases of girls being abandoned. Illegal marriage of under-aged girls also goes unabated in the state while many of these girls are then trafficked to other states.”

However, social welfare director RP Singh refused to speak about the issue and requested an official request to reveal any information about the issue. Many top officials also denied the request and informed POST that the information will be published in the annual report of women and child development department.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report of 2013-2014 has also highlighted this issue where the authorities were able to trace only 23 per cent of missing cases during the last five years.

* According to the Home Dept. Govt. of Orissa