Delhi may be unearthing a Nithari soon....

Kamini came from her native state, Bihar some 20 years ago with her husband in search of better livelihood to Delhi. Her eyes were full of dreams after she got her first child Satyendra. But as her son turned 11, he vanished from Nev Sarai, the village she is staying at. Seven years have passed since then, but Kamini is still waiting for her son to return from the play-ground. She is hoping against hope because a Baba (godman) has assured her about Satyendra's homecoming. But, the disturbing fact is that the police has once again be proved incompetent.The is not an isolated case of missing children. The national capital has sempiternal incidents of missing children. According to the reports of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), more than 44, 000 children of different age groups go missing every year in India. Delhi tops the list with 6.7 per cent of the total reported cases. Police records confirm that 6, 227 and 6, 683 children went missing in 2004 and 2006 respectively in the Capital. Facts reveal that most of the missing children come from the lower economic strata of society. That may be reason behind lacklustre approach of police on the matter, as it has always acted fast in hi-profile cases. Even the fourth estate does the same thing. “I lodged the complaint soon after Satyendra disappeared. I have visited police station several times since then with no breakthrough. Now I do not have any faith in the police. They do not even listen to our concerns sympathetically,” Kamini, whose husband is a vegetable seller, told
Police even have even shown reluctance in giving information on the number and status of missing children. Even an RTI application could not bring out clear picture of it. Nav Shrishti, a non-governmental organisation, sought information about missing children in all the ten districts of Delhi under RTI Act. But, only seven of these districts replied. “One of the police stations demanded hefty amount of Rs 12, 000 for giving information in the name of administrative cost! There was no symmetry in the fee charged by different police stations,” says Reena Banerjee, secretary of Nav Shristi.

She also alleges that the police hoodwinks a “serious matter” like this for some unknown reasons and unknown purposes. According to information furnished by Delhi Police under RTI the total number of missing children in the city since 2003 is 135. Reena says, “The matter of the fact is that cases are not being registered because most of the complainants belong to impoverished families.” An alarming fact here is that a majority of the missing children are girls aged between 12-19 years and around 80 per cent of them come from slum areas, reports Institute of Social Sciences, JNU.The study conducted by Nav Shristhi also underlines this fact. Underdeveloped areas like Samalika near Kapasheda, Simapuri, Sunder Nagari, Nangloi, Prem Nagar and Sultanpuri are particularly vulnerable for the safety of children. It is also important to note that most of the migrants coming from various states reside in these areas rendering their children a softer target for child poachers. Nithari ghosts are catching up fast with the national capital. Delhi might well be on the roads of finding another Nithari for the people to get shock waves.Reena suspects organ or sex rackets in association with beggary mafia, police and white collar criminals behind these unfortunate children. "We have got information about a girl, who was missing for one and half years. She had been taken to Ajmer but she managed to flee before the kidnappers could deport her to Dubai. She also said that there were many girls in the captivity at that place," Reena said.
Even the challenged children (kids with mental or permanent physical disability) are not being spared in the Capital. Headlines India came across several parents of such children, who went missing from almost different corners of Delhi. They might have gone missing on their way back home, but it indicates the possibility of involvement of organ traffickers. Manoj Tripathy, social scientist from the Jawarlal Nehru University affirms the second possibility. He goes even further hinting at the involvement of terrorist organisations, who may be using these children in jehad.

Alliance of People Rights, an amalgamation of social rights organisations, has been raising the issue particularly after gory Nithari took place in Noida but not without hindrances. After the Alliance took-up the issue of missing children and submitted memorandums to the Supreme Court, the President and the NHRC, suddenly police become all powerful. "We got call from 'special police branch' seeking the information about our sources of funds and article under which we have been registered. I told them that please search for missing children in stead of quizzing us. We just want administration to take more serious cognizance of this issue. The sooner, the better," said Reena. Sifting through the details of cases of disappearance, one would definitely feel the ubiquitous presence of the siblings of Nithari Managers. Headlines India is of view that protection of child rights and human rights is as important for the country as a nuclear deal or an assembly election or winning laurels at international platform is. This becomes even more pertinent and urgent if recalled in the backdrop of horrific stories of Nithari and Kidney crimes. The bell is ringing alarmingly. Hope someone is hearing