The Karnataka Missing Child Bureau’s statistics show that districts like Ramanagaram, Mandya, Yadgir, Gadag, Hassan, Haveri and Shimoga have registered a spurt in the number of child missing cases in the last two years.
Being attracted to the fancies of city life, desire to lead a luxurious life and elopement are said to the major factors which are driving out the children from homes. A majority of these children are from families belonging to below poverty line (BPL).
Their parents are either labourers or those engaged in agricultural activities. The parents in deep debt are also one of the reasons, the bureau said. Ramanagaram which registered 28 cases in 2010 saw 154 children missing from its land in 2011.
Within seven months of the year 2012, the district bordering Bangalore registered 359 cases, of which 140 have been traced. Its neighbouring district, Mandya went up from 40 cases during the whole of last year to 146 in just seven months this year. Likewise, Hassan went up from 42 to 143 and the backward Yadgir district which registered 18 cases last year to has witnessed 121 cases so far.
Gadag and Haveri reported 63 and 52 cases this year respectively, up from 10 and 8 last year. Shimoga registered 58 cases this year and 24 last year. The number of missing children traced in these districts is abysmally poor according to the statistics.
Jennifer, Coordinator of Child Line, Don Bosco, an NGO working for the welfare of street children, said that the main reason for children running away from their homes is attraction towards city and better job opportunities.
“They are also influenced by other working children who they come across,” she observed. Child psychologists said that children take the drastic decision of running away from home unable to bear the domestic violence in the family, poverty, alcoholic father, neglect and love affairs. Coordinator of the State’s Missing Child Bureau Binu Varghese said that mostly children in the age group of 12 to 16 years go missing.
“Coming from remote places, these children are lured by city’s life. When it comes to girls, a majority of them elope with their loved ones,” she added.
“The delay in registering missing complaints is a great setback creating lot of problems as they get employed and settle down making it difficult to trace. If the complaint is registered immediately, it will be helpful to trace the children,” he felt.
Ramanagaram Shantha Jeeva Jyothi Missing Children Bureau Director Sundaram Edwin said, “It is not just poverty, but even lifestyle changes, impact of TV and conflicts in the family make children run away from homes. As Ramanagaram is closer to Bangalore, more children flee to Bangalore. We have organised a number of awareness programmes to educate parents to take care of their wards,” he added.
Bangalore where thousands of missing cases were registered in the past has seen a steady decline registered in the last two years. Officials said that it might be because parents prevent eloping cases and they do not want to register complaints.
With the help of the latest technology, strict monitoring and online registration of complaints, more number of children are being traced and handed over to their families, they explained.
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