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Looking for Their Missing Children
By Geeta Pandey | BBC News, Delhi
July 31, 2008
On a sultry afternoon, a group of about 50 people, most of them women, have gathered outside Jantar Mantar – the 18th-century observatory in the Indian capital, Delhi.
Many of them are carrying placards with photos and names of their children who have gone missing in the last few years. Among them is Kamini.
“My son Satyendra went missing seven years ago. He was 10 then. It was 6am, he was playing outside. And then he disappeared. I have no idea who could have taken him. I have no enemies,” says a distraught Kamini.
The last seven years have been a nightmare for her.
“I lodged a complaint with the police. They asked me to have 300 posters made with his photo. They said they will put them up at all police stations in the city. I did, but the posters never went up. I have no idea where my son is,” Kamini starts to cry.
Lost faith
Mr Singh says police do not care for the poor
Since her son went missing, she has made dozens of trips to the police station but had to return empty-handed each time.
Now she says she has lost faith in the police. “If police wanted, they could have found him, but they’ve not helped me for seven years, why would they bother now?”
Kamini’s plight is not unique.
When Rani’s 15-year-old daughter Nagina went missing on 12 June, it took her a week and all her persuasive powers to get the police to register a case.
Rewa Lal’s son Manish, 8, has been missing since 21 March and Shyam Bahadur’s son Sunil, 12, has been untraceable since 15 June. Sangita’s daughter Sunita, 5, disappeared on 16 June and five-year-old Farhan’s father Abdul Jabbar has not seen his child since October 2005.
Rani, Rewa Lal, Shyam Bahadur, Sangita and Abdul Jabbar all say they have received no help whatsoever from the police in finding their children.
As a last resort, these parents have now appealed to the Indian president and the National Human Rights Commission to help them.
‘Two possibilities’
“I don’t think anyone can imagine 1,000 children going missing in London. But it happens in Delhi and the administration doesn’t even take notice. That’s a very sad state of affairs,” says Vikram Srivastava of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Child Rights and You (Cry).
