Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: A total of 256 children were reported missing in Goa between 2020 and 2024, with 150 of them still untraced, according to figures placed before the Rajya Sabha.
The data, presented by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar in a written reply on August 12, shows that only 106 of the missing children were traced during the five-year period.
Goa recorded its highest number of missing children in 2024, when 58 cases were reported. This was followed by 55 cases in 2022, 52 in 2020, 48 in 2023 and 43 in 2021.
The tracing figures remained considerably lower. Authorities traced 22 children in 2020, 14 in 2021, 23 in 2022, 17 in 2023 and 30 in 2024, taking the five-year total to 106.
The parliamentary response also shed light on human trafficking cases registered in the state. Goa recorded 88 arrests linked to human trafficking between 2020 and 2024, but only four accused persons were convicted during the period.
Arrests stood at 27 in 2020 and 26 in 2021 before dropping to just one in 2022. The figure subsequently increased to 21 in 2023 and stood at 13 in 2024.
The four convictions recorded in Goa came in 2022 and 2024, with two convictions in each of those years.
Goa has two Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs). The Centre has extended financial assistance to States and Union Territories to strengthen or establish such units across districts.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said, however, that the setting up of AHTUs and deployment of adequate personnel remain the responsibility of the respective state governments and Union Territory administrations.
The Centre also stated that it does not maintain consolidated information on cases of human trafficking that are pending before authorities.
The figures were sourced from crime statistics compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which collects data submitted by States and Union Territories for its annual Crime in India publication.
