Harini found, but 158 kids still missing in Tamil Nadu

According to government data, last year 1,158 children went missing in the state last year, and of them, 1,000 children were traced and found while the rest remained untraced.

Speaking about a three-year-old case in which a 9-month-old child of a pavement dweller was abducted from Walltax Road in a sedan, a police officer said, “The case is still under investigation.”

As per the data in trackthemissingchild.gov.in, on an average three children go missing across the state every day.

In fact, three children went missing in Tamil Nadu in the last 24 hours. Last month, 76 children had gone missing.

Although the police had not ruled out the possible existence of a well-oiled network of agents behind the missing children in the state, they are yet to pin-point on any such gang.

Police suspect existence of such a racket because they have seen those arrested being well equipped with lawyers to bail them out despite them — mostly women — claiming to live alone with little monetary support.

The police also said that similar to Harini’s case, most of the children or babies that are stolen are done for childless couples. They estimate that nearly 70 to 80 per cent of the abducted children are sold to childless parents who are ready to pay up to Rs 5 lakh for a child. 

The rest are sold into gangs that organise begging and prostitution racket, while a few older ones elope, noted an officer.