Over 13 lakh women and girls went missing between 2019-2021, Centre tells Rajya Sabha

The highest number of such cases – 1,98,414 – were reported in Madhya Pradesh, the home ministry told Parliament.

Jul 31, 2023 · 09:33 amUpdated Jul 31, 2023 · 09:48 am

A total of 13,13,078 lakh girls and women went missing in the country between 2019 and 2021, the Union government told the Rajya Sabha last week.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra said that 82,084 girls and 3,42,168 were reported to be missing in 2019. The next year 79,233 girls and 34,44,22 women went missing, followed by 90,113 girls and 3,75,058 women in 2021, Mishra said.

A state-wise break up of the data showed that the highest number of missing cases – 1,98,414 – were reported in Madhya Pradesh between 2019 and 2021. Among the states, Mizoram reported no such case, while Lakshadweep had a clean record among Union Territories.

In his reply, Mishra added that the government has taken several steps for the safety of women across the country, including enacting the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, as a deterrent against sexual offences.

Amendments introduced to the law in 2018 provided for stricter punishment, including death penalty, for the rape of girls below the age of 12 years. The law also made it mandatory to complete investigation and filing chargesheets in rape cases withing two months of the crime and completion of in another two months.

The minister added that the government has also launched a database of sexual offenders to track down suspects in such cases.