Mumbai Police Debunks Viral Claims On Missing Children
The force reiterated its commitment, stating, “For us every child matters, every family matters, and we remain unwavering in our resolve to protect them.”
Mumbai Police has dismissed social media messages alleging a surge in missing children cases as “misleading,” stressing that every case involving minors is treated with “utmost seriousness and empathy.”
In a post on X, the force clarified that, as per the Supreme Court’s directive in Bachpan Bachao Aandolan vs Union of India, all missing minors are registered as kidnapping cases.
The post on X read, "The messages being circulated on social media about missing children do not reflect true facts...Mumbai Police prioritises every case of a missing child with utmost seriousness and empathy."
It further added, "Over the last five years 98% of minors (up to age of 18) have been successfully reunited with their families and this year is no exception...Our efforts continue relentlessly and the search never ends until every missing child is traced."
The response came after, on Friday a news report highlighting 82 cases of missing children and young adults in Mumbai in just over a month was widely circulating on social media, sparking concern across the city.
A Midday report said Mumbai Police recorded 82 cases of missing children and young adults between Nov. 1 and Dec. 6. Of these, 60 are females.
The newspaper conducted a data analysis that showed older adolescents were the most affected, with 18-year-olds accounting for more than half of all cases, 41 girls and 13 boys.
In the same light the force shared a recent example of it’s efforts and highlighted the rescue of a four-year-old girl from Varanasi by the MRA Marg Police Station after she had been missing from Mumbai for six months. The force reiterated its commitment, stating, “For us every child matters, every family matters, and we remain unwavering in our resolve to protect them.” Multiple teams, including the Crime Branch, local units, and Special Cells, are actively deployed to trace missing children and ensure swift action, it wrote on X.
Police also urged citizens to avoid believing or spreading unverified information and to rely on official sources for accurate updates.
