The National Human Rights (NHRC), India has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that even eighteen days after, a six-year-old girl went missing from an under-bridge in Koh-e-Fiza area in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, the Police have no answers. Reportedly, the missing girl’s homeless mother with eight children suspects the involvement of one of the relatives in the disappearance of her daughter, but the police is not conducting a fair investigation, and no arrests have been made in the matter to date.

Reportedly, this is not just one case of disappearance, as over 3,400 women and girls have gone missing in the State during the last three years, as per the data of the Madhya Pradesh police. Allegedly, the CCTV networks are patchy, rapid-response teams are missing in action, and there is no coordination between the units.

The Commission observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights. Therefore, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Government of Madhya Pradesh, calling for a detailed report in the matter within two weeks. According to the media report, carried on 25th April, 2025, a drive under the name 'Operation Muskan' launched last year by the State police to rescue and rehabilitate the missing girls has not shown any results.

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NSK