Assam: Over 3,700 Children Reported Missing in 3 Years: Ajanta Neog

GUWAHATI: During the past three years, Assam has reported over 3,700 cases of missing children, with over 3,400 being successfully recovered by various agencies, stated Women and Child Development Minister Ajanta Neog during the Assembly session on Tuesday.

In response to a question raised by Congress MLA Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah, Neog said that a cumulative figure of 3,779 children had been reported missing from their residences between 2021 and 2023.

Of these, 3,419 children were rescued, she added.

She further mentioned that rescued children are either reunited with their families whenever possible or provided care by the government if reunification isn't possible.

Neog explained that the rescued children who could provide information about their homes were returned to their families, while those unable to do so were accommodated in childcare institutions.

The minister also stated that between 2012 and 2023, a total of 6,054 cases were registered under the POCSO Act of 2012, with 3,522 cases having been resolved.

Additionally, she mentioned that incidents of child trafficking are reported from nearly every district in the state, with Kamrup, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, and Biswanath being the districts with the highest occurrences of such crimes.

Meanwhile, police on Sunday rescued one-and-half years old child from being trafficked to Hyderabad. Reportedly, she was allegedly kidnapped from her father’s tea stall near Khanapara flyover.

Police nabbed three persons for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of the girl child. The persons have been identified as Biswajeet Das alias Sameer Dey (30), Sabita Dey (28), and Jelimon Begum (28).

After receiving a complaint from the child’s father, who suspected a regular customer coming to his tea stall, police acted promptly and rescued the girl from the alleged kidnappers.

Police found the girl in one of the culprits' house in the Lalganesh area where they rescued the victim.

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