1 lakh girls missing from Maharashtra between 2019 and 2021 : PIL
PIL to be heard in Bombay High Court today
Mumbai – Shahaji Jagtap from Sangli has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court, informing about the disappearance of 1 lakh young women from Maharashtra during the 3 years from 2019 to 2021. In this petition, he said that according to the report published by the Ministry of Home Affairs, 35,990 girls aged above 18 years have gone missing from Maharashtra in 2019; 30,089 in 2020; and 34,763 in 2021. He has also recorded the Court’s observations in this petition. The petition will be heard on July 30.
Jagtap’s daughter, a third-year science student, has been missing since December 2021. Despite lodging a complaint at the Sanjay Nagar Police station in Sangli, the Police have not been able to locate the girl. Jagtap has come to know that his daughter is married and converted to Islam.
Jagtap has stated in the petition that he has been able to meet his daughter for only 2 minutes in the last two and a half years and that she has been completely cut off from her family. As the girl was not a minor, the Police did not make any attempt to trace her. The missing girls may have been tortured or forcibly converted. (If true, this claim is shameful for the Maharashtra Police ! – Editor).
| Editorial Perspective
This state of affairs raises a question on the efficiency of Maharashtra Police. The Government should take strict action against careless Police officers who are responsible for this situation. |