Cases of disappearance of minor girls as well as women are on the rise in Bastar district as out of 999 adolescent girls and 1037 women
disappeared in the last 12 years 34 girls and 28 women are still missing. After the Supreme Court’s order, the police registered cases of abduction in some of these missing cases, but failed to chalk out solid strategy to trace out the missing girls. Notably, between year 2000 and 2013 under various Thanas of the district 955 girls in the age group of 12 to 16 went missing. Out of these, 965 girls have been recovered while six girls reportedly died during the period. However, 28 girls are still
missing. likewise, out of the 1037 women went missing
during the same period, 955 have been recovered by the police besides 14 dying during the period.
Still 68 women are missing. Regarding the cases of missing girls and women 135 criminal cases have been registered against identified as well as unidentified accused and in most of the cases abduction charges have been slapped.
Seventeen years old adolescent girl of Santoshi ward had gone missing 3 years back. Her family members alleged that a youth of Uttar Pradesh had run away with her. Police after registering a case in this regard took hardly any step to recover the girl.
likewise, a 16 years old girl of Bahadurguda area was coaxed by a Haryana boy as both of them ran away 4 years back. Police have filed an abduction case in this regard but enraged by the dilly dallying of police, now her family members say they are hardly interested in searching out their daughter. On the other hand police said most of these cases are of love affairs.
However, sources said that there were probabilities of selling the Tribal girls by the accused after eloping with them. Cases of sale of some tribal girls had come in to light about 4 years back but the police still do not take the cases of abduction of minor girls seriously, in fact even do not fail to admonish the missing girl’s parents who come to lodge the report.
Discounting the allegation of showing slackness towards such cases, Bastar Deputy Superintendent of police SR Salam claimed that in all cases of abduction of girls, police are investigating minutely after registering the case and have also achieved success in finding out a number of them.