Stolen futures: Tackling India's missing children crisis

Hubballi: Every day, amidst the rush of trains and the chaos of passenger chatter at Bengaluru’s Yeshwanthpur railway station, Railway Protection Force (RPF) officer Puttegowda K L keeps his eyes not only on the tracks but also on the faces in the crowd.

In the last two years, he has rescued more than 150 children from potential danger. They are either runaway children chasing uncertain dreams or minors being trafficked to fuel the capital city’s endless hunger for cheap labour.

For Puttegowda, spotting a lone teenager stepping off a train from the north or northeastern states is now instinctive. “Every third day, I come across a teenager travelling alone and without a ticket,” he says. 

“When questioned, they often give vague answers, saying they are in Bengaluru to visit relatives or to study. But when we call their parents, seven out of ten admit they have run away from their homes,” he says.

Yet, for every child he rescues, many more slip through, as adults who claim to be relatives, accompany them. “I feel helpless,” he admits. “I know some are being taken to work in hotels or construction sites, but without legal authority, I cannot stop them.”

Puttegowda’s unease is not misplaced. Officials say many of these children are at risk of exploitation. At the Government Girls’ Balmandir in Hubballi, 15-year-old Geeth*, waits to return home. The eldest of five daughters of a mason from Bihar’s Siwan, she fled after her father took away her mobile phone, cutting her off from a man she had befriended on social media eight months ago. Before leaving, she just dropped a message to her ‘friend’ about her arrival in a train to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. 

For the next three days, Geeth kept calling her ‘friend’, waiting for a response that never came. With nowhere to go, she spent her nights at railway stations, bus stands and market areas. On the fourth day, fearing her parents’ anger and dejected by her social media friend’s betrayal, she randomly boarded the first train that halted before her. She was eventually rescued at Hubballi by the Meri Saheli team, an initiative by the RPF for women passenger safety, and was shifted to the government-run care centre.

“I was scared to call home. I thought I would never be forgiven,” Geeth says. 

Geeth was among the four girls admitted to the shelter in Hubballi this month — all runaways from different regions, and driven by teenage love, conflict at home or the search for acceptance. 

Back home, Geeth’s father, Chandrakant* had only ‘informally’ alerted the police about his missing daughter, fearing the social stigma around filing a formal complaint. To neighbours, the family said Geeth, a district-level football player, had gone to Delhi for a tournament. When he finally learnt of her whereabouts, Chandrakant came to Hubballi and persuaded the Dharwad Child Welfare Committee to let him take her home, assuring them of her safety and care.

Chandrakant was lucky to have found his daughter. Many parents never get that closure.

In Mudhol, Bagalkot district, Rajanna (48) has been searching for his 14-year-old son Somu* for five months. “Unlike his academically bright sisters, Somu was not interested in studies even though we provided him all comforts,” Rajanna says.

“As the school insisted that he improve his learning abilities, I put pressure on him to perform better. When he failed to score well in Class 7 annual exams, he smashed his phone. I told him I would fix it only if he did well next time. The next morning, he was gone,” he says. 

They searched for Somu in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Mumbai and other places but to no avail. 

Every eight minutes, a child goes missing in the country. Every day, hundreds run away from home for reasons ranging from family conflict to academic pressure, unaware of the dangers awaiting them. Many others are kidnapped or trafficked for begging, forced labour or sexual exploitation. While around 90 per cent of the missing children are eventually traced with the help of government agencies and NGOs, experts warn that the country is still reacting to the crisis rather than preventing it.

According to the recent National Crime Records Bureau report, nearly 91,296 children were reported missing in India in 2023, a 9.5 per cent rise from the previous year. Of them, nearly 10 per cent could not be traced. 

In Karnataka, 14,878 children went missing between 2020 and July 2025. This data presented by Home Minister G Parameshwara, in a written reply to the Legislative Council recently, highlighted three worrying trends — the number of missing children is rising each year, more teenage girls go missing than boys and the proportion of untraced children, especially girls, remains alarmingly high.

While the government data does not specify the reasons for children going missing, activists, psychologists and child rights experts say poverty, family abuse, emotional neglect at home, social discrimination, parental alcoholism and orphanhood are that major reasons that push children to run away from home.

According to experts, boys mainly run away unable to bear the academic pressure, and for girls, the cause is often emotional neglect, lack of acceptance at home and unsafe relationships.

The growing influence of social media is another major factor that is shaping adolescent decisions. Sharing their experiences of dealing with runaway children, several experts told DH that more than half of the runaway girls aged 15 to 17 had done so to meet the boys they befriended online. In most cases, these boys were above 18.

Madhumati Hebballi, Superintendent of the Children’s Home for Girls in Hubballi, says her institute receives at least five to eight girls aged 15 to 17 every month. “During adolescence, when children fail to receive love at home, they often seek it elsewhere,” she explains. 

Awareness and education, not just for children but also for parents, is what she advocates to prevent emotional disconnect within families. 

Highlighting the gravity of the issue, Karnataka High Court judges S G Pandit and C M Poonacha, while hearing a habeas corpus petition on October 13, 2025, related to a missing girl from Hubballi, observed: “The disappearance of a woman or child cannot be reduced to mere statistics in police records. Each missing person represents a family’s agony and the State’s solemn duty to protect life and liberty under Article 21.” The judges added, “Courts cannot remain silent spectators. Every missing person is a life waiting to be found.”

Trafficking, a hidden current

In 2023, nearly 1.13 lakh people were kidnapped or abducted in India, of whom 82,106 were children. The same year, Karnataka reported 3,133 kidnapping cases, placing it among the top seven states for such incidents. 

Of the 397 child trafficking cases reported nationally, only three were officially recorded in the state. Experts acknowledge that while child trafficking may be lower here compared to north Indian states, it is unlikely that only three children were trafficked in a year.

“Official data suggests that cases of kidnapping and child trafficking for labour are low in Karnataka. But this is hard to believe, as many districts in North Karnataka witness significant labour migration and the state does not maintain comprehensive data on vulnerable children,” says M L Parashuram, co-founder of the Mysuru-based Odanadi Seva Trust, which is involved in rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of trafficked and sexually exploited women and children.

He recounts rescuing a 14-year-old tribal girl from Old Mysuru region trafficked multiple times to Madikeri, Mumbai and Bengaluru after her father’s death during the Covid pandemic and exploited sexually. “When exploitation happens in silence, data becomes meaningless,” he says. The survivor has now written a letter to the President of India, requesting justice for her.

He said that there are at least five agencies — Child Rights committee, Child Welfare Committee, District Child Protection Units, Juvenile Justice committee, Junior Police Wing — that are working for the protection of children, yet the system is unable to prevent missing child issues.

Over the past five years, Karnataka police have arrested 634 people for illegally transporting or kidnapping children in the state.

Vasudeva Sharma N V, executive director of Child Rights Trust, says, “Most of the children are driven away or lured to work as domestic help, labourers in hotels and construction sites, and some are exploited as sex workers. Unfortunately, a majority of these cases never come to light, as many parents do not report missing children,” he says. 

Data shows that southern districts such as Bengaluru (urban and rural), Tumakuru, Mandya, Mysuru, Chitradurga and Davangere report a higher number of missing children cases compared to the northern districts. Vasudeva noted that one reason for the higher numbers could be that rescued children were brought to these districts, leading to cases being registered there.

India had pledged to eliminate child labour by 2025 and has over ten laws to protect children’s rights, including the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA), the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. However, experts argue that the country lacks a comprehensive anti-trafficking law addressing prevention, protection and rehabilitation. 

Many times, rescued children are pushed back into another exploitative sector, perpetuating the cycle of vulnerability.

Weak preventive measures

Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) member Thippeswamy K T says that while we are aware of children going missing, preventive measures remain weak. 

“Unless we use collected data for scientific analysis to understand why children go missing, we may never prevent such cases,” he says. 

He cites one of the coastal districts in the state as an example, where a police officer conducted an impromptu analysis of sexual harassment cases involving children. The review of data since the implementation of the POCSO Act to 2024 revealed that 95 per cent of cases were registered against family members, including fathers, brothers and other close relatives. Thippeswamy says that while this analysis does not directly link to the number of missing children, it illustrates how scientific use of data can help identify root causes and guide focused interventions. 

Vasudeva Sharma acknowledges the efforts of multiple agencies in tracing and reuniting missing children with their families, especially in Karnataka where nearly 13,542 of the 14,878 missing children were traced in 2023. However, he cautions that despite these successes, the government is still “reacting to the situation rather than taking proactive measures to prevent such cases.”

Thippeswamy says that without understanding why children run away from home, the government cannot devise an effective mechanism to prevent it. “We need focused interventions and coordinated efforts across departments — health, education, police, women and child welfare, and others — to address the root causes.” He adds that it is crucial to create forums where children can freely express their fears, emotions and concerns, while also raising awareness about the harsh realities and consequences of running away from home.

Both echoed the concern that reuniting runaway children with their parents after counseling does not fully solve the problem if the underlying circumstances remain unchanged. 

Vasudeva Sharma suggests that the government addresses multiple fronts to prevent children from running away. “A crucial step, especially in rural areas, is ensuring regular school attendance. Teachers should actively counsel and interact with children facing issues at home,” he said.

He adds that the government needs to strengthen the Women and Child Protection Department and standardise reporting through the beat police system to improve monitoring on the ground. NGOs, in coordination with government agencies, should conduct parenting workshops to help parents understand and address the interests and concerns of their children, especially adolescents.

Anjali Ramanna, chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Bengaluru, and author of Magalu Odi Hogidalle, emphasises that the most important need for a child in a family is acceptance. “No matter how many times the system reunites a child with their parents, the flight-risk nature of the child will persist if the parents do not accept them as they are.”

She notes that many eloped girls are unaware of safe and unsafe relationships and advocates for a more comprehensive approach to sex education in schools. “Beyond teaching about safe and unsafe touches, children need to understand the emotionality of getting into a physical relationship and the importance of controlling unsafe desires,” she said. 

She adds that both homes and society should be made safe for children.

“The government’s role should not end with the reunification of a child with parents. There must be continuous monitoring, especially for children who have experienced trauma during their period of disappearance.”

The role of society is crucial in rehabilitating such children, as any provocation or harassment can push these emotionally vulnerable children towards extreme actions, she adds.

Experts also stress the need for timely reporting and accurate information to trace missing children.

Child rights activist Nagasimha G Rao felt that effective intervention begins at home. 

“In many nuclear families, parents may not always be fully aware of their children’s close social circle and thoughts, which may aid in tracing the children. But the initial hours after a child goes missing are critical. Police can assist a family more effectively when they have accurate information about the child, including the latest photograph and identifying marks,” he says. 

He also notes that some parents may hesitate to approach the police due to concerns about societal perceptions but each police station has a Special Juvenile Police and Child Welfare Officer to address children’s concerns sensitively.

Inspector General of Police, Eastern Range, B R Ravikanthe Gowda, says the department treats cases of missing children seriously, registering all such cases as kidnapping to ensure speedy tracking.

“The biggest challenge is tracing children of migrant families, as they often lack a permanent address,” he explains. 

“When we rescue a child, they may not be able to provide complete details of their parents. Migrant labourers also often do not have recent photographs of their children, which makes tracking difficult.”

Gowda adds that the department is not only rescuing children from begging but also targeting the gangs that exploit them. He notes that each police range in Karnataka has a committee, headed by a senior police officer, that regularly reviews missing children's cases and coordinates with other ranges. “Data shows that we have been able to rescue nearly 90 per cent of the missing children in the state,” Gowda adds.

(*Names have been changed to protect their identity)