The Bombay High Court expresses its disappointment on Mumbai Police lack of efforts in the case of lost or missing children. The court says, “it is unfortunate that parents of missing or lost children have to approach court”.
Bombay High Court stated that “this only indicates that persons working in the police force are either inefficient or insensitive”.
A petition recently filed by a mother in regard to her missing child was brought before a division bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice Bharathi Dangrer. The child had gone missing in 2015. The mother said the court that she had lodged a police complaint immediately after her son went missing, but the police failed to trace her son prompting her to approach the court in January this year. The Bench said, “In a city like Mumbai, children are exploited and after they are removed from the lawful custody of their parents, they can be forcibly involved in several illegal activities.”
The police in their defence claimed that various attempts to trace the child have been made by them. They said they have already contacted and informed their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh to gather any information about the child. One of the angles police investigated was that the husband of the petitioner, who had left her and married another woman, might have taken the child to UP where he was believed to be residing with the second wife. The investigating officer informed the court that usually, when the child’s custody cannot be obtained by the father by a legal process, it leads to suspicion that the child may have been taken away by him. He told the court that in the present case, however, the husband was serving in a Gulf country and was not present at the address in UP.
“We are hardly impressed by this report. For all we know, the investigating officer is clueless. There are several ways and means to involve a child in unlawful and illegal activities. The child may have been picked up for forcefully working in some industry or may have been picked up by a gang or group of persons who are either involved in trafficking of drugs or who have set up such activities including establishing a nexus with those who require children to be employed as domestic helps,” said Justice Dharmadhikari.
The Bombay High Court bench has directed the deputy commissioner of police, Zone-VI, to file an affidavit mentioning the steps taken in the case till date. The matter has been kept for hearing on November 2.
