Main Opposition in the State Assembly, Congress on Wednesday staged a walkout over the alleged police failure to trace 4,990 minor girls who have gone missing in the State in five years.
Raising the matter during the Question Hour, Ramniwas Rawat (Congress) alleged that the Government was spending crores of rupees on 'Beti Bachao Andolan' but was not concerned over such a large number of missing girls. He sought that a human trafficking case should be registered in the matter.
Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta said 29,828 girls had gone missing from 2008 to 2013. Of them, 24,838 girls were traced while special teams were formed to trace the remaining 4,990.
Pointing out that such incidents did not come under human trafficking, Gupta said a case of human trafficking was registered only when a victim was sold or purchased. The Home Minister said that Government had formed an anti-trafficking cell in Shivpuri and Gwalior to curb human trafficking.
He said that 87 cases related to human trafficking of 40 adults and 138 minors were registered in 25 districts from 2008 to 2013. In these cases, 426 persons were arrested out of 491 accused.
Dissatisfied with the reply, Congress members created uproar for about seven minutes, despite Speaker Ishwardas Rohani saying the matter was serious and police were making efforts.
However, leader of Opposition Ajay Singh said the State government and the Minister concerned were not serious over the issue and led a walkout by Opposition members. In reply to a written query by Arif Aqueel of Congress, the Home Minister said 7,306 cases of rape with of minors were registered from 2008 to 2013.
later, while talking to media persons, the Home Minister stated that figures did not indicate so many girls are missing. "The figure is on the higher side because most parents who approach police for filing cases do not revert," he added.