Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

It's no joke that children are going missing: COP

Friendly boss: City Police Commissioner C. Sylendra Babu interacting with a boy at the International Missing Children's Day 2011 organised by the National Child Labour Project in the city on Wednesday.

COIMBATORE: Cases of children going missing in Tamil Nadu has been increasing since 2008, and it should not be taken lightly, City Police Commissioner C. Sylendra Babu said on Wednesday.

Children who went missing could fall into wrong hands, could be sexually assaulted and murdered or they could even be pushed into alms-seeking.

No pressure

One of the ways to avoid this was not to exert undue pressure on children to perform, he said, speaking at the International Missing Children's Day 2011 organised by the National Child Labour Project at Sundarapuram in the city.

Well informed

Children should also be kept well informed and moulded into brave individuals.

They should be taught self-defence techniques such as martial arts, he said.

Mr. Babu also said teachers and parents should work to identify the talent spots in every child. The talent or potential of a child need not be in academics. It is the duty of parents and teachers to identify the potential of the child and channelise his or her energy to tap the hidden talent to its full. Elders should also refrain from thrusting their ambitions or unfulfilled dreams on children, he said.

Mr. Babu recalled that a boy who had failed in mathematics and termed ‘hopeless' by teachers and parents had later turned out to be a genius in computers.

In many cases, the child was found to have left home either due to pressure at school, compulsion to perform in academics and in the case of girls, a love affair.

Training

Parents should train children to be cautious with strangers especially when they try to lure children with what they like the most.

Children should also be advised against getting dropped in the vehicles of strangers.

They should also be taught to remember the house address, phone numbers of parents, friends and relatives, and if possible the nearest police station.

As in the case of the West, children should be taught to react and draw the attention of the passersby by creating a loud noise and also to immobilise the enemy through martial arts for self-defence.

The numbers

The number of children reported missing in Tamil Nadu in 2008 were 683 boys and 1130 girls of whom 185 boys and 171 girls were yet to be traced. In 2009, 781 boys and 1206 girls were reported missing and of which 203 boys and 218 girls were yet to be traced.

The figures in 2010 were 973 boys and 1352 girls, of which 206 boys and 194 girls were yet to be traced, Mr Babu said.

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