INDONESIA

300 Missing Children Reunited With Their Families in India

300 Missing Children Reunited With Their Families in India

The Indian police say more than 300 children who have been missing for years have been reunited with their families.
 
The New Delhi police say they were found as part of ‘Operation Smile’ – a police campaign that was launched three months ago to find missing children.
 
Authorities say one child goes missing every eight minutes in India and nearly half of them are never found.

18-month-old Abhinav went missing last year while playing outside his home in suburban Delhi. His mother Priyanka, 27, remains inconsolable.

"A group of street performers came to our area and my son wanted to watch them...It was cold and I went back inside to get him some more clothes. When I returned a few minutes later he was gone."

"My husband and I searched everywhere but we couldn't find him," she said.

Priyanka and her husband turned to the police for help.

"They said come back later. When we came back they said "why did you come back?" My husband begged them to show some mercy and help us find him," she said.

Only after constant pressure did the police register a formal complaint.

Chabbulal, 40, runs a grocery shop in a Delhi slum.
 
He sent his 10-year-old son Rahul to a nearby market to buy medicine for his sick mum.
 
After three years Chabbulal is still waiting for his son to return.
 
"I can’t sleep. Every night I put his photograph on my heart and wait for him. Sometimes I feel like committing suicide,” he said.

 According to the National Crime Records Bureau nearly a hundred thousand children below the age of 18 go missing in India every year.

Sandhya Bajaj from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights says the number could be much higher.
 
“Because most of these children are from the poor families and poor children are not considered as equal human beings,” she said.
 
Activists believe many fall prey to human traffickers. They are used for child labour, begging, organ trade and prostitution.
 
Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi is the Founder of Bachpan Bacho Andolan or Save Childhood Movement.
 
"47 percent are never found and among those 60 percent are girls and it's very serious because they are mostly kidnapped and quickly taken to destinations where they can’t reach anyone and nobody can reach them,” she said.

The Supreme Court recently severely criticized the government and the police for not doing enough to protect children.
 
In response, the police in several states have launched a operation to find missing children and bring them home. They are calling it 'Operation Smile'.
 
Runvijay Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police says that police being insensitive in cases of missing children is a common complaint.

"'Operation Smile' is our effort to bring in that sensitivity into our work. Now we have set up a dedicated team that registers cases immediately and begins investigating them with sensitivity. The team consists of those people who feel strongly about the issue and really want to do something about it.”
 
More than 300 children have been reunited with their families in and around Delhi since the operation was launched three months ago.

Mohit is one such child.

"I left home with a friend but we got separated at the train station. I reached Jaipur and there a woman took me with her. She had several other children with her and they told me to work with them. I was told to collect used plastic bottles and when I refused they beat me up. They would often abuse me and deny me food. We used to sleep at the railway platform.”
 
Mohit was there for five years till the police found him and took him back to his mother in New Delhi. He says he will never leave his home again. His mother Devi is overjoyed to see him again.

"We had lost all hope because the police did not seem to take much interest in finding him but suddenly the police brought him back last month. It has infused new life into all of us. It was like having all our prayers answered all at once,” she said.

  • India
  • children
  • human trafficking
  • Bismillah Geelani

Komentar (0)

KBR percaya pembaca situs ini adalah orang-orang yang cerdas dan terpelajar. Karena itu mari kita gunakan kata-kata yang santun di dalam kolom komentar ini. Kalimat yang sopan, menjauhi prasangka SARA (suku, agama, ras dan antargolongan), pasti akan lebih didengar. Yuk, kita praktikkan!