The Centre on Wednesday placed in Rajya Sabha the data on women and girls reported to be missing during the period between 2019 and 2021. Minister of State of Home Affairs Ajay Mishra placed the data collated from the National Crime Records Bureau in reply to a question from Nationalist Congress Party MP Fauzia Khan.

In his reply, Mishra said that 82,084 girls and 3,42,168 women were reported to have been missing till 2019, while in 2020, the number stood at 79,233 girls and 34,44,22 women. Till 2021, a total of 90,113 girls and 3,75,058 women were reported to have been missing.

Photo: Digital Sansad website

In his reply, Mishra added that the government has taken several steps for the safety of women across the country, including enacting the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, as a deterrent against sexual offences.

Amendments introduced to the law in 2018 provided for stricter punishment, including death penalty, for the rape of girls below the age of 12 years. The law also made it mandatory to complete investigation and filing chargesheets in rape cases withing two months of the crime and completion of in another two months.

The minister added that the government has also launched a database of sexual offenders to track down suspects in such cases.

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Correction and clarifications: This story has been edited to correct the number of missing women and children.