Understanding the SOP for cases of Missing Children
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 19, 2017
With more than 1 lakh pending & reported cases of missing children, the government has now come up with a model SOP for cases of missing children. This model SOP is to be followed by all the states and defines the process & responsibilities of various stake holders.
There are more than a lakh pending cases of missing children each year as per the data from the ‘National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)’. At the end of 2015, close to a lakh children who were reported missing are yet to be traced. While the government had launched a ‘Track Child’ portal in 2012 to integrate the efforts to track missing children, a uniform SOP is still missing.  Following the directions of the Supreme Court, the government has now developed a ‘Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)’ for cases of missing children.
The Background
The SC while hearing a PIL by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (WP (Civil ) 75/2012) directed the Ministry of Women & Child Development to come up with a SOP for cases of missing children since there were many SOPs developed by states. The government was asked to come up with a model SOP with the help of TISS so that uniform procedure could be followed through out the country.
The new model SOP is in consonance with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules 2016 according to a government press release. The SOP mainly deals with the tracking of missing children and their rehabilitation after recovery. It defines roles and responsibilities of various stake holders like the Police, Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) etc.
Filing Complaints
Rule 92 (1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules 2016 defines a missing child as “a child whose whereabouts are not known to the parents, legal guardian or any other person or institution legally entrusted with the custody of the child, whatever may be the circumstances or causes of disappearance, and shall be considered missing and in need of care and protection until located or his safety and well- being established.”
Any of the following persons can file a complaint when a child is missing
The complaint can be either filed with the police or the emergency helpline number of the police or the child line (1098). Once it is reported to the police, the details have to be entered into the centralized portal along with a photograph of the missing child.
What is the role of the Police?
The model SOP clearly defines the role of the police in handling cases of missing children. Police is supposed to do the following
Risk assessment is also the job of the Police
The police also have to fill in a risk assessment form (as per a format) after taking into consideration various parameters of the missing child. The risk assessment is done to help the police understand
If the missing child is not traced within 4 months, the investigation has to be transferred to the anti-human trafficking unit of the police.
What after a child is found?
The model SOP also details the process to be followed when a child is found by the Police. When a missing child is found, he/she has to be produced before the Child Welfare Committee or the Juvenile Justice Board or the Children’s court. Various scenarios are defined in the SOP. A recovery form also has to be filled by the police.
Featured Image: SOP for cases of Missing Children