Dhangadi, July 29

A large number of women and children go missing in Kailali every year.

Data with Kailali District Police Office showed 487 women and children went missing from the district last fiscal. Of the missing, the whereabouts of the majority is yet to be known.

A total of 287 women had gone missing last fiscal. Of them, 126 were found, while 161 could not be traced. Likewise, of the 68 minor boys, who went missing last fiscal, 39 were found and 29 were still missing. Of the 132 minor girls, only 77 were found while the 55 were yet to be accounted for.

In the previous year, of the 282 women, who had gone missing, 206 were found while 76 were still missing. Likewise, of the total 64 minor boys, 56 were found with eight still missing, and of the 75 minor girls, 59 were found while 16 were still on the list of missing at the police office.

DSP Dakshya Kumar Basnet said various reasons such as, marriage at a young age, temptation of going to India, and going out of contact after second marriage, had led to women and children going missing.

Province 3 Coordinator of National Human Rights Commission Jhankar Rawal said women and children were being trafficked with false promises of better jobs, study and lifestyle. He stressed the need to collaborate with various local levels and organisations to put an end to the missing cases.