'9,034 children trafficked in India in 2016 alone'

The Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation on Wednesday said that 9,034 children were trafficked in the year 2016 alone, a dramatic rise in the figure compared to 2015.

In a statement citing the National Crime Records Bureau for 2016, the Foundation said: "9,034 children were trafficked in the year 2016 alone, a figure that had risen dramatically by 131 per cent from 3,905 in 2015."

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) member Priyank Kanoongo said in India 40 per cent adolescent girls and 35 per cent boys are out of the school.

"Since these children, who come from poor families and do not attend school, they become more prone to falling prey to perpetrators of trafficking," Kanoongo said.

Geetanjali Goel, Special Secretary, Delhi Legal Services, said: "Even after rescuing, we are not very sure if children would be accepted back in their families. In Delhi, dropout children are more vulnerable to offence and we must identify and map it."

Goel said that given such alarming data, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive approach to combat the "organised crime of trafficking".

--IANS

sm/nir