There is no reason to disbelieve these figures that 13.13 lakh women and girls went missing in the country within two years.
The reason is that the data has been collected by the National Crime Records Bureau ie NCRB and placed on the table of Parliament.
However, there is no guarantee that every missing woman and girl missing from remote areas of the country will also be included in these figures.
Anyway, many people refrain from registering reports in the name of alleged respect. However, it is a stigma on the forehead of a civilized society that in just two years more than thirteen lakh women and girls goes missing and there is no information about them.
While this crisis shows the failure of the police-administration, it also compels the society to introspect as to why we allowed such situations to arise that women left their homes upset or got trapped in the clutches of anti-social elements.
Of course, It is a sad situation and the number of missing is huge and is second only to China in the world.
It is ironic that amid the ongoing political clamor over the Manipur issue, there has been no serious political response to this burning issue.
Unfortunately among the missing women, the number of 2.5 lakh are minor girls. It is difficult to say whether she fell into the hands of human traffickers or left to start a new life with someone she knew.
It is also difficult to say that after 2021 the situation has changed and these figures will not include a few lakh more women and girls.
But overall the conditions in our society are not such that a common woman can live a life of self-respect and security easily.
About which there is a need for serious brainstorming.
However, the disappearance of thirteen lakh women and girls demands discussion in the society as to where they have gone. Certainly in recent years there has been a significant increase in crimes against women in the society.
After the Nirbhaya incident, despite the strict laws made for the safety of women, their expected effect is not visible in the society.
Kidnapping of women in the society, news of abduction and human trafficking keep making headlines in newspapers.
In such a situation, we cannot blame only the government for the disappearance of these women.
In the past, some such incidents have come to light that criminals and crazy lovers kept killing girls in public after failure in one-sided love and the crowd remained spectators or were busy making videos.
In such a situation, the society cannot escape its responsibility in the disappearance of women and girls. The brutality meted out to women in Manipur brought shame to the country in the world, where women were made victims of caste enmity.
In such a situation, every person of the society will have to introspect whether we are contributing in creating such a society, where there is no situation of missing any woman.
Those who commit female feticide and kill married women for dowry are also a part of this society. Which is a form of cruelty towards women.
The imbalanced sex ratio in many parts of the country is also a hallmark of anti-feminist thinking. This thinking is not going to change with just a strict law.
We have to think why women are becoming victims of sexual violence? Why are the cases of misbehavior, kidnapping and rape of women continuously increasing in the society?
Apparently this is the culmination of the toxic thinking flourishing in the society. It is certain that the status of women in any society is an indicator of its being civilized or uncivilized. We have to look into our own backyard that where do we stand on this criterion?
For which the society and political leadership will have to take serious initiative.
