In alarming data, state women’s commission says more than 3,500 women went missing in the first three months of the year, raising worries of uptick in trafficking
There were 383 women reported missing from Mumbai between January and March this year
A worrying statistic revealed by the Maharashtra State Women’s Commission is that the maximum number of missing women cases in the state between January and March have been reported from Mumbai. On Monday, the chairperson of the Maharashtra State Women’s Commission (SWC) raised an alarm over both, the growing number of missing women in the state and the absence of a structure to handle these cases.
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According to Maharashtra Police data presented by SWC Chairperson Rupali Chakankar at a press conference, a total of 3,594 girls/women in the age group of 16 -35 years went missing from across the state between January 1 and March 31, 2023. The district-wise breakup of the data revealed that the highest number of missing cases—383—were reported from Mumbai city. This was followed by Ahmednagar with 183 cases, Nagpur Rural and Nashik Rural, with 169 cases each, and Pune Rural and Pune City, with 156 and 148 cases, respectively.
“Girls and women have been going missing in considerable numbers throughout the state. The number of women in the 16-35 age bracket is large and it appears to have been growing over the previous several months. On Monday, a hearing was conducted at the SWC office to discuss and review the steps taken by the Maharashtra Police and Home Department to look into cases of missing women.
(L to R) SWC members Suprada Phaterpekar and Adv Gauri Chabria, along with SWC Chairperson Rupali Chakankar and Spl Inspector General (Women & Child Crime Prevention) Deepak Pandey at the press conference on Monday. Pic/Nimesh Dave
Although some of them have been traced, overall this is a serious matter,” Chakankar said. According to Chakankar, fresh cases are being reported continuously every month and there is an urgent need to have a system in place for dealing with these cases on priority.
Chakankar said that the SWC has been following up with the missing persons' department since January 2022 regarding the investigation of missing girls and women, and is constantly seeking investigation reports. In view of the possibility of domestic and international participation in this regard, the SWC has also been in constant touch with the chairperson of the National Commission for Women and has been demanding that a concrete plan be implemented.
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Chankankar described the state of affairs in Maharashtra as alarming and urged that the Home Department set up a committee to look into these situations, conduct search operations, and present an action-taken report to the commission every fifteen days.
“There have been committees set up by the government in the past but they do not include police officers which does not make sense to me. There should be a uniform and structured setup along with well-documented records to investigate the cases of missing girls; every different agency and police station has a different way, different information, and different outcomes. Instead of making it a political issue or criticising authorities, we must focus on building a system to deal with these cases,” Chankankar said.
Appealing for search operations in these cases to be expedited, Chakankar said in most cases, the missing girls were trapped by the lure of marriage or a job. “The likelihood that they will be sexually exploited or drawn into the human trafficking network increases if law enforcement agencies don't find them immediately. Most of these girls are younger than 18 years. I would thus also advocate counselling for these young females,” she said.
District-wise data of missing girls/women
Mumbai 383
Nagpur Rural 169
Nagpur City 109
Nashik Rural 169
Pune Rural 156
Pune City 148
Pimpri Chinchwad 143
Kolhapur 127
Jalgaon 121
Mira-Bhayander
& Vasai Virar 113
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