214 missing females in HP untraced in last three years, says CM

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh assembly was informed on Thursday that as many as 214 missing females in the state have not been traced in the last three years.

Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur while replying to a question posed by CPM MLA Rakesh Singha, informed the House that 237 complaints of murder were received from the relatives and friends of the deceased during 2015, 2016 and 2017, of these, 58 were investigated as accidental deaths, two as suicide cases and nine as natural deaths.

Among the 214 missing females cases, eighteen cases are of murder, Thakur said, adding that it is matter of concern that number of such cases are in rise and remained untraced need to be curbed down by enforcing the law and order in the state.

Crime against women is on rise and efforts are being made to check this, Thakur said, adding that the government has launched a ‘Gudiya’ helpline to ensure speedy action by the state police.

He further said number of crime incidents against women in the state is, however, far less than the neighbouring states but the sudden increase is alarming.

It has also been observed that in case of missing minor girls, parents sometimes delay in lodging a missing report to evade the social stigma on the such victims, the CM said.

Rakesh Singha alleged that government should not mix the missing of women with elopement cases, however, everyone should be concerned for whereabout of such women.