This is one gender gap that is disturbingly wide and steady — and Bengal contributes substantially to it.
West Bengal has reported the highest number of missing children in India, and 87% of them are girls in the year 2024. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, which released figures for 2024, a total of 98,375 children, including male, female and transgender children, were reported missing from the country. These figures include children who have been untraced over the years. Girls account for 75.6% of all missing children children.
From Bengal, a total of 22,742 children were reported untraced until 2024 – more than one-fifth of the national total – and 19,050 of them were girls. In 2024 alone, 15,849 were reported missing from Bengal. Among them 13,727 were girls.
About 85% of Bengal’s missing children are girls
The NCRB data on missing children indicates “a sharp gendered trend”, says CRY, a foundation that works for the underprivileged children of India. CRY has analysed the data on missing children across places, age groups and genders.
The figures from Bengal are staggering, possibly also indicating a higher rate of reporting compared to other states. But irrespective of different levels of reporting, the numbers from the state are worrying.
NCRB data from 2020, analysed by CRY, shows that the number of children missing from Bengal has gone up steadily every year. During the years 2020 and 2021, the pandemic years, 7,648 and 9,996 children were reported missing from Bengal. The number rose to 12,455, 14,667 and 15,849 in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. (The numbers are for each year and do not include the children who remained untraced from previous years.)
Girls accounted for between 84% to 86% of the total number of missing children every year between 2020 and 2024.
“Missing” covers a wide range
Why does Bengal have such a large number of its children missing?
A wide range of cases, irrespective of their nature, are registered as “missing”. This is particularly true in the cases of trafficked girls.
“Many cases, categorised as ‘missing’ in West Bengal may actually involve child marriage, unsafe migration or exploitation. Similar patterns are observed across other states as well, though local contexts may differ,” says Trina Chakrabarti, regional director, CRY (East).
Child marriage and early pregnancy remain concerns in Bengal. Often incidents of adolescent girls leaving home for marriage through elopement, a phenomenon increasing with the growing reach of social media connectivity, are registered as “missing” cases.
The gendered pattern is a key to understanding the large number of missing children.
Disguised trafficking?
A lot of “missing” cases are related to trafficking — for domestic work, forced labour, forced marriage or sexual exploitation. Activists point out the high incidence of trafficking in Bengal. Nihar Ranjan Raptan from the organisation Garanbose Gram Bikash Kendra (GGBK), which works on cases of trafficking in Sundarban region in Bengal, says that in Basanti area alone more than 10 cases of trafficking can be reported in a few months.
Border districts and migration-prone areas remain particularly vulnerable.
Poverty, often related to environmental and climate change-related disasters, and family insecurity increase the vulnerability of girls to trafficking and unsafe migration, says Raptan. As does school dropout among adolescent girls, who are often lured through false promises.
Extreme low figure for trafficking in Bengal
“Child rights organisations are increasingly reporting cases involving online grooming and recruitment through social media platforms,” adds Chakrabarti. “Migration from tea garden areas and economically vulnerable pockets to other states for work in sectors such as hospitality and domestic work remains an important concern,” she adds.
Trafficking survivors habitually complain of how reluctant the police are to register their cases under trafficking, or allow the filing of an FIR.
It is still surprising to see how astoundingly low the latest NCRB data from Bengal is on trafficking: only 67 registered incidents, involving 78 trafficked persons.
“Activists and child rights organisations often rely on rescue operations, destination-state investigations, and field-level tracking, which may reveal trafficking elements not fully reflected in official trafficking data,” says Chakrabarti. Increased awareness and stronger reporting systems in Bengal may contribute to greater visibility of missing children cases, she adds.
High tracing rate in state
“The situation highlights the need for stronger convergence between child protection systems, schools, police, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Childline services, community-based child protection committees and adolescent groups for prevention, early identification, tracking and rehabilitation of vulnerable children,” says Chakrabarti.
However, Bengal also reports a high tracing rate — 75.5% — significantly higher than several other high-burden states, says CRY.
Other states from eastern India, including Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand, reported a large number of missing children, and also the gendered pattern, which is reflected across states and all age groups.
Odisha recorded the lowest tracing rate in India among states with substantial case volumes: only 26.4%. At 54%, Bihar has the second-lowest tracing rate among major states.