Justice, recovery elude thousands:

Thousands of children in India go missing every year yet few are traced and given adequate support to rebuild their lives, partly due to the under-utilisation of funds by states and a slow judicial system, government officials and judges said Tuesday.

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that 60,000 children went missing in India in 2011, out of which 22,000 remain untraced, according to government officials.

Activists say many are trafficked and sold into bonded labour as servants in middle-class homes or in small shops and hotels where they serve, clean and cook. Girls often end up in brothels where they are repeatedly raped and abused.

Speaking at an event organised by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on the rehabilitation of missing and trafficked children, government officials and senior judges admitted more efforts were needed to protect and support children.

“Slow trials and low rate of convictions are an institutional failure. The lack of child-friendly courts might be a reason behind low conviction rate,” said Supreme