Five years, 170 women yet to be found

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Out of 35,336 women who went missing under mysterious circumstances in Kerala from 2017 to 2021, 170 have not been found yet. Such cases are often written off as absconding, elopement with lover etc. Police have not released figures regarding missing women after 2021.

No proper figures are available regarding migrant women workers who have gone missing in the state. A detailed investigation is necessary regarding the disappearance of missing women, in the wake of the incident where a woman, who went missing 15 years ago in Mannar, was killed and dumped in a septic tank.

Even though C-branches in the districts are looking into these missing cases under the supervision of IGs, the probe is not moving at a brisk pace. The police usually tend to write off the case by taking into account statements made by the missing woman's husband or family that she had eloped.

Recently, Sajeevan, the husband of Kochi Edavanakkad native Ramya, told the officials and others that his wife had eloped with another man. However, it was later found that Sajeevan had strangled his wife to death and buried her body on the premises of the rented house. The police were also in a hurry to close the case after giving an advertisement stating that Ramya was missing.

Police have not been able to find 42 women who went missing in the last few years in Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Kasaragod districts. (Kollam-24, Pathanamthitta-12, Kasargod- 6).

More than six thousand women have gone missing over the past few years. Most of them are elopement with lovers. Since 2016, police have registered 1550 cases of abduction of women. Till April this year, 38 women were abducted. An average of 984 girls go missing every year. Up to 922 people were found. Investigations are mainly focused on begging mafia and organ trafficking in such cases.

5 years, 35,336 went missing

2017--------------6076

2018--------------7839

2019--------------8843

2020--------------6395

2021--------------6183
(central government figures)

Kidnapping
2016---------166

2017---------184

2018---------173

2019---------227

2020---------151

2021---------179

2022---------241

2023---------191

2024----------38
(till April)