Thiruvananthapuram: Girls outnumber boys with regard to the number of children being reported in the state every year.
According to the police sources, from 2010 till May this year 5,818 minors were reported missing in the state, of which 3,281 were girls and 2,537 boys. Of this, 361 children were still remaining untraced - 190 girls and 171 boys.
Over these years the number of children being reported missing has been going up steadily. While the number of children who were reported missing was 829 in 2010, it reached 1228 in 2014.
This year till May 529 children were reported missing. Police sources said that the actual number of children who went missing was much higher as most of parents prefer not to register case, especially when girl children were missing, owing to social stigma. Cases are often registered after the whereabouts of the child is not unknown for couple of days.
Out of the 829 children who went missing in 2010, whereabouts of 60, including 28 children, were not yet known. In 2011, 942 children were reported missing, of this 46 were yet to be traced.
Similarly 44 children who went missing in 2012, 51 who went missing in 2013, 87 who went missing in 2014 and 73 who went missing till May this year were yet to be traced.
