Nowadays, the police face a challenging task in tracing missing girls and women.
Various police stations in the district have recorded 88 missing cases – 21 girls, below the age of 18 years, and 67 women (unmarried) between January and July 21.
On being referred, teams from the anti-human trafficking wing have traced 16 girls and 51 women and launched a search for five more minor girls and 16 women. Tracing them had become a tough task as they switched off their mobile phones and severe their contacts, Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena said.
While women return home after getting married or report to the police station seeking protection after marriage, girls remain elusive with their lovers. After tracing the girls, the police produce them before the Child Welfare Committee and, based on their statements, the cases are altered.
If the girls say that they were forcibly taken, the police register kidnapping case. The girls are sent for medical examinations and, based on medical reports, the police book the offenders under the provision of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). Any sexual act with minor girls, even with their consent, would attract the provisions of POCSO.
In case of women above the age of 18 years, the police after obtaining statements from them file reports before courts and close the cases. Couples would not be produced before courts except in cases in which women wanted to be restored with their parents. The recently launched awareness campaign, involving women Inspectors, was aimed at educating girls to focus on their studies, he added.
