The Bombay High Court on Thursday issued notices to the Maharashtra government, the Department of Women and Children, and the Director General of Police while hearing a petition that raised concerns about missing women in Maharashtra who, after many years, remain un-traced.
The bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar, while hearing the petition, remarked, “There may be various causes of children and women going missing. However, it is the duty of the state to trace them, protect them and, if necessary, give them safe custody. One of the reasons for the staggering number of missing children is possibly the menace of human trafficking.”
The plea seeks direction that the Maharashtra police trace about one lakh women who have gone missing in Maharashtra between 2019 and 2021. Advocate Manjiri Parasnis, appearing for petitioner Sahaji Jagtap, pointed out that there was some more data that was now available for women missing between 2022 and 2024 which showed that at least five thousand women go missing every two months in the state. Parasnis requested the court to be permitted to bring this data on record.
The court directed the petitioner to implead the Maharashtra State Commission for Women as a respondent party. It directed the Commission to file an affidavit suggesting measures that can be adopted by the state to address such incidents.
While issuing a notice, the court also directed the other authorities to file an affidavit-in-reply about the mechanism available to the state government and authorities to trace missing women and children. It said that the affidavit should also disclose the measures in place which have/are being applied by the state to curb human trafficking, especially of children and women.
The bench further directed the Director General of the Government Railway Police to file an affidavit bringing on record the steps being taken by the railway police in Maharashtra to curb human trafficking.
Source Agencies
