‘Unorganised’ sector employing missing kids in city, suggests HC

The bench expressed anguish over Mumbai police failing to trace these children

The Bombay High Court recently expressed its anguish over Mumbai police for failing to trace missing children in several cases. The HC said that unless the police force realise the existence of a huge ‘unorganised’ sector in the city which employees missing children, it will not be possible for the cops to trace the kids.

A division bench of Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Justice Prakash Naik said, “For the past more than six months, this Court has been finding that the police machinery is clueless. We expected the police machinery by now to realise that in this city there is a huge unorganised sector where children and those in search of livelihood are employed.”

The judges said that this sector consists of several agencies, contractors and even public bodies, which employ missing kids.

“There are security agencies, contractors, to whom work is outsourced by even public bodies such as BMC, the Banks, the public sector undertakings, the railways, and other establishments. We have never seen any police officer visiting the office of these establishments and seeking details from them of such contractors being deployed for the work which is outsourced.”

“From the list of such contractors, who may be registered or otherwise, the details of those employed by them or on their rolls can be obtained. It is quite likely that the children who go missing are deployed either as watchman, drivers, cleaners etc, after they attain adulthood. The exploitation, thus, continues and equally the misery of all concerned,” Justice Dharmadhikari added.

The observations were made while the judges dismissed a habeas corpus writ filed by a man seeking directions to the police to trace his minor son, who had gone missing since December 2014. The judges dismissed the plea of the man after considering the fact that despite intervention of the Court, the child’s father showed no interest and did not assist the police.

“Unless and until those moving this Court and seeking the writ of habeas corpus assist the police machinery and provide it details, no search is ever launched much less a comprehensive one. We do not know whether the police machinery has ever prepared a plan and with due consultation of all the experts to track children who are missing for more than one decade. It is quite likely that if the missing child is male, he may have found some employment or source of livelihood in this city. It is difficult for anybody to identify him unless and until a search operation which is organised and systematic is launched by the police machinery,” Justice Dharmadhikari said.