After nearly 45 children went missing from Noida and Ghaziabad in the past two months, people fear the recurrence of the Nithari barbarism.
Police records in Ghaziabad reveal that 36 children, belonging to poor families, were missing from the city areas of Ghaziabad alone, according to Naujawan Bharat Sabha, the NGO which surveyed the areas after reports started pouring in from families of the missing children.
Tapish Maindola of Naujawan Bharat Sabha told the media on Tuesday that the most striking aspect of the incident was the apathy of the police which had, after nearly two months, failed to find any of the children.
"And of this figure of missing children, one-third is of girls. In our enquiries, from about two dozen localities of Ghaziabad and Noida, 45 children, aged between 12 and 18 years, were found missing," he informed.
"Even the police records confirm 36 children missing, between March-April, in Ghaziabad. Besides, several families said they did not lodge complaints because they knew no FIRs would be filed," he said.
The families said they were abused and intimidated by the police, when they insisted on filing their complaints, he added.
"The abducted children often ended up in the hands of criminals engaged in human trafficking for organ trade, child pornography and paedophiles or forced into beggary or as domestic helps or bonded labourers," he said.
"Mostly the children are from poor working families, where both parents are working and there are no facilities of creche or anything," he added.
The negligent attitude of the police and administration, even after an incident like the Nithari killings having taken place not so long ago, was appalling, he added.