Representative image
Representative image

Four minors, including one boy and three girls, have gone missing from Kathalguri under Bokajan Police Station in Karbi Anglong since afternoon on March 21.

However, the FIR was filed only on March 25.

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It has been suspected that the minor children might have become victims of human traffickers.

The minor children who have gone missing are 10-year-old Nikhil Malar, 12-year-old Sangita Soren, 12-year0old Sushmita Soren and 7-year-old Jiru Malar. The FIR was filed after the parents failed to find the children despite making all-out efforts.

The Chairman of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Karbi Anglong, Dharam Teron said there are many unreported cases of missing children and only the reported cases come to the Committee.

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Teron said, “Many minors have gone missing from Karbi Anglong district. We cannot do anything on our own; the police have to act on such cases and in case, the children are found they are brought to us. Our plea for setting up a shelter home and helpline number for the district is yet to be complied with.”

The Chairman of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Karbi Anglong, said, “Children are taken away by traffickers who reside in a particular area for sometimes. They become familiar with the locals and gain their confidence. Some of the missing minors are rescued and some are not. Lack of a shelter home for the rescued children is a major problem being faced by the Child Welfare Committee in the district.”

It has been alleged that minors from poor financial background in West Karbi Anglong and Karbi Anglong, particularly belonging to the Karbi tribe, are taken to places like Nagaon and Guwahati with promises to provide facilities of study in schools, where they stay with different families, but instead of sending them to schools the children are engaged in domestic works robbing them off their childhood.

“These children failing to bear such environment often run away from their masters’ homes as their parents come to visit them only once or twice in a year to take money,” alleged sources, adding, “And thus many children go missing.”