Reasons behind the 2 lakh missing women in Madhya Pradesh

Nearly 2 lakh women and girls have gone missing in Madhya Pradesh between 2019 and 2021, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) presented by the Home Ministry. This figure is the highest in the country, raising serious concerns about the safety and well-being of women in the state.

The data, presented by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), indicates a distressing pattern. A significant number of these missing cases are linked to hunger and climate change. The lack of job opportunities, extreme poverty, low levels of education, and limited freedoms are also contributing factors.

According to The Quint, experts say that it's impossible to address the problem of missing cases without also looking at distress migration and climate change. Distress migration, Climate change, Lack of job opportunities, Poverty, Poor education, Limited freedoms, Social biases, Hunger, Trafficking

2 Lakh Women Missing: Concerning

The situation is particularly dire in the tribal district of Alirajpur, which ranks highly in the missing women index. Distress migration is common in the region, with many women and children leaving their homes in search of work and better living conditions.

The combined data of NCRB and RTI shows that, in total, from 2018 to 2022, 41,627 girls and 11,508 boys went missing in MP, bringing the total number of missing kids to 53,125. The data also reveals that, over these five years, the percentage of missing girls exceeded 78 per cent.

The Quint’s ground reports from the tribal district of Alirajpur, which ranks highly in the missing women index, reveal a distressing pattern. A significant number of these missing cases are linked to distress migration, lack of job opportunities, climate change, excessive poverty, low levels of education, limited freedoms, and biases in the system.

One such case is that of 12-year-old Rashmi, who went missing in April 2022. Rashmi had told her mother, Devi, that she would try to get hired as a construction labourer at a building in Alirajpur City. Rashmi didn’t return home that day, or the next, or the day after.

Child labour is commonplace in the region, and so is children going missing. In 2022 alone, 32 children went missing every day in Madhya Pradesh, of which 24 were girls (75 per cent), as per a Right To Information (RTI) report gathered by the Child Rights and You (CRY) NGO.

Madhya Pradesh leads India in missing cases

An alarming number of unsolved cases stem from tribal districts. The once bountiful tribal lands, that sustained generations in the past, no longer suffice. The influences of climate change and rampant hunger are compelling girls as young as 12 to embark on hazardous journeys to neighboring states to seek a means of survival.

• In 2022, 32 children went missing every day in MP, of which 24 were girls
• In 2022, the number of missing girls reported in Madhya Pradesh was still three times higher than boys
• In 2021, they reported a total of 4,28,278 cases of crime against women.

Madhya Pradesh's child disappearance trend over 5 years

5 MP Districts with Most Missing Kids, 2022

Why are there many missing cases in Madhya Pradesh?

The high number of missing women cases in Madhya Pradesh can be attributed to several factors. One significant factor is distress migration, where women and children leave their homes in search of work and better living conditions. This is particularly common in regions like the tribal district of Alirajpur.

Another contributing factor is climate change. Changes in climate, such as erratic rainfall patterns and increased temperatures, have affected agricultural output leading to food insecurity. This, coupled with a lack of alternative employment opportunities, has led to an increase in distress migration.

Soha Moitra, the regional director of CRY (north), expressed deep concern over the increasing number of missing children in Madhya Pradesh, particularly girls. In 2022, more than 75% (8,844 in numbers) of the missing children were girls, a trend that has persisted for the last five years.

Moitra explained that they could attribute the higher proportion of missing girls to the increased demand for domestic help, commercial sex work, and instances of girls running away due to domestic violence, abuse, and neglect. He also expressed serious concern about the number of missing boys. He said that the demand for child labour had risen due to a shortage of cheap labour in the unorganised sector, pointing to a higher risk of child trafficking.

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