National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Odisha Director General of Police to furnish by May 31 a detail district- wise data of missing women and girls, who have not been traced yet.
The Rights body issued the direction recently while acting on a petition filed by Human Rights Watch Secretary Sangita Swain way back in December 2015.
Ms Swain in her petition quoting R T I said as many as 11,000 Women/Girls were reported missing from Odisha till November 2015.They included 3200 women/girls missing during January 1, 2015 to December 18, 2015.
She said the highest number of missing cases were reported from Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Jharsuguda, Sundergarh, Angul, Ganjam,Kendrapada, Nayagarh, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Jajpur Districts.
Ms Swain said 4439 missing reports were registered in different Police Stations in 2014, but in many cases FIR were not filed forcing the missing girls to take up prostitution.
She alleged that the human rights of these women was violated due to inaction, unlawful action and abatement by the police.
Ms. Swain urged the commission to take immediate steps to rescue the missing women/girls and to initiate criminal action against the police personnel responsible for it .
In their counter filed in July 2018, Odisha Police, CB ,CID narrated the measures and programmes taken to check crimes against women and children and stated that the reports that 11,000 women are missing in the State is not factually correct and is grossly exaggerated.
Pursuant to the direction Ms Swain said that SP, CID/CB, Odisha, Cuttack was silent on the number of missing women/girls not yet traced and requested Police to furnish district-wise number of missing women/girls not yet traced.
After listening to the complainant, the commission was of the view that if CB/CID has narrated the measures and various programmes taken to check crimes against women and children and described their successes in solving the cases, they must also give the figures of their failures where they could not trace out the missing women/girls district –wise so as to present the correct picture. (UNI)
