Keep extra vigil for children!

We often receive social media photo messages showing us a child's photo with the message that the child in missing or traced somewhere requesting us to forward the message further for maximum circulation. It touches deep inside while thinking of the plight of the child and his parents. Sometimes it works but no feedback of the fate of such poor child. A recently reported case of gruesome child sacrificing near Amritsar was most shocking and sent the chill down the one's spine.
The Ministry of Home Affairs in a report few months back said that 55,000 children were kidnapped in India in 2016, a whopping 30 per cent increase over the previous year. The report did not stir many in this state as most of us still feel that the menace in that serious here. Many among us thought that such incidents were happening in other states, till a baby kidnapping racket gets busted and reported too. We also come across news reports of missing infants from the hospitals. Many stories are being heard on seeing small children begging near shopping areas in Gandhi Nagar, Traffic Signals and other public places.
According to the 2017-18 report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 54,723 children were kidnapped in 2016 but chargesheets were filed in only 40.4 per cent of the cases. The conviction rate in child kidnapping and abduction cases in 2016 was a dismal 22.7 per cent. As many as 41,893 such incidents were recorded in 2015 and 37,854 in 2014. A Home Ministry official had said, ‘Even though most of the lynching incidents in the recent past were fuelled by rumours of child lifting on social media, the statistics show that the fear of child kidnapping among people, especially those in the rural areas, is not completely unfounded.
Parents are required to be more vigilant about such kidnapping incidents and should not take the movement of their children in casual manner. Citizen should also be alert by making enquiries on seeing any suspicious person accompanying a child that seems unusual.
‘Children are the future of the country and crimes against them should be viewed with utmost seriousness. Strong punishment can alone put an end to such things.