Karnataka: Close to 40,000 women have gone missing in Karnataka between 2019-2021

The Ministry of Home Affairs tabled a report in the Rajya Sabha on July 26th pertaining to the data concerning missing women across the country. Even when the country was going through a lockdown in the year 2020, the trend of missing women was not affected negatively. A total of 344,422 women and 79,233 girls went missing that year. The total number of missing women for the period between 2019-2021 is 13.13 lakh. Over 10.5 lakh of these are adults. Close to 2.5 lakh of these were young girls. 

The data was compiled by the Nationals Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This has been ever been released as public information. In the press release, the NCRB has also provided information of proactive steps being taken by the government for the safety of women, such as dispatching an emergency response support system providing a helpline number of 112 and a cyber-crime reporting portal for reporting obscene content. 

Although Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal had contributed most to the numbers, the section pertaining to Karnataka was cause for worry as well. 12,950 women which includes 703 children went missing in the year 2019. 12,784 women which includes 834 children went missing in the year 2020. In the year 2021, 14,191 women which includes 1237 children went missing. In comparison to its neighbouring state, Kerala, it has fared poorly in terms of number of missing women although the trends for missing children is still quite similar.