Source: MSN News India

Children living in slums, unauthorised and resettlement colonies are most vulnerable of being trafficked, running away or getting lost, a report by an NGO working for protection of child rights said today.

According to the report compiled by Child Rights and You (CRY) based on the information under RTI from various police station of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, 1,260 children were reported missing this year till April 30 from just eight districts of the three states.

While 250 children were missing from eight districts of Uttar Pradesh, 1,683 children were reported missing from six districts of Madhya Pradesh in 2007-08.

The report attributed labour, sex trade, domestic help, slavery, organ trade, marriage and begging as the main reasons for increase in children missing incidences in the country.

The NGO today also held a public hearing here in which families of some missing children from the three states narrated their stories to the jury comprising of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child”s Rights (DCPCR) President Amod Kanth, Bharti Ali from Haq – Centre for Child Rights, Additional Commissioner U K Chaudhary and retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court A P Shah.

The families alleged they didn”t get any help from the local police to locate their child. Narrating an incidence, a daily wage earner Banwari Lal said his son Chetan was abducted seven months back.

“After repeated reminders to the police, an FIR was filed and the police later asked me to pay the ransom demanded by the abductors. When I asked the SHO to help me, he did not cooperate and despite knowing the abductor”s whereabouts he made no attempts to rescue my child,” Lal said, adding that till date he doesn”t know if his son is alive or not.