More than half of the minor girls reported missing remain untraced, according to RTI-based figures. The absence of district-wise details raises questions about investigations, child protection and institutional accountability.

At least 4,271 women and girls reported missing in Jammu and Kashmir remain untraced, including 1,016 girls below the age of 18, according to figures obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application from the Union Territory’s Home Department.

The figures, reported by The Tribune on October 26, 2026, show that 16,397 adult women and minor girls were reported missing during the period covered by the records. Authorities traced 12,126 of them, while the remaining cases were listed as unresolved.

The numbers reveal a particularly concerning pattern involving children. More than half of the minor girls reported missing during the period remain untraced, compared with approximately one in five adult women.

The data also raises an important question: when thousands of missing-person cases remain unresolved, how much information is available about the investigations, the progress made in tracing those reported missing and the support provided to their families?

More than 1,000 minor girls remain untraced

The RTI-based figures distinguish between adult women and girls below 18 years of age.

Between 2019 and June 2026, 14,593 adult women were reported missing in Jammu and Kashmir. Of these, 11,338 were traced, while 3,255 remained untraced.

The figures for minor girls cover the period from 2019 to August 2026. During this period, 1,804 girls were reported missing. Authorities traced 788, leaving 1,016 untraced.

This means approximately 56 per cent of the reported missing-girl cases remained unresolved in the figures supplied.

The distinction between the two groups is significant. Children are legally recognised as requiring special protection, and their disappearance triggers specific responsibilities for law-enforcement agencies and child-protection institutions.

The figures do not establish the circumstances behind individual disappearances. They do, however, make the status of unresolved cases a matter of urgent public concern.

Missing cases have remained a persistent concern

The annual figures reported by The Tribune indicate that missing-person reports involving women and girls have continued over several years.

Among adult women, reported cases increased from 1,388 in 2019 to 1,854 in 2021. After a slight decline in 2022, when 1,766 cases were reported, the number rose to 2,242 in 2023.

The highest annual figure in the reported period was recorded in 2025, when 2,595 adult women were reported missing. Of these, 2,102 were traced, while 493 remained untraced.

The figures for minor girls also show fluctuations. There were 150 reported cases in 2019, 122 in 2020, 221 in 2021, 249 in 2022, 261 in 2023 and 226 in 2024.

In 2025, 289 girls were reported missing, of whom 166 remained untraced.

During the first eight months of 2026, another 286 girls were reported missing, with 158 still untraced in the reported figures.

The partial 2026 figures warrant attention, although a full-year comparison cannot yet be made.

The missing information: where are the cases concentrated?

One of the most important gaps identified in the RTI-based report is the absence of district-wise information.

The Jammu and Kashmir Home Department did not provide a district-wise breakdown of the cases in response to the RTI application, according to The Tribune.

Without this information, it is difficult to establish where the highest number of disappearances has been reported, whether particular districts have a larger proportion of unresolved cases or whether there are differences in the performance of local investigative agencies.

The published figures also do not provide a detailed picture of the stages reached in individual investigations, the time taken to trace missing persons or the measures undertaken in cases that have remained unresolved for several years.

For families, the disappearance of a daughter, sister, mother or wife is not simply a statistical entry. It can mean years of uncertainty, repeated visits to police stations and an absence of clarity about what happened to a loved one.

Public accountability therefore requires more than the publication of annual totals. It requires information about the action taken after a missing-person complaint is registered.

Missing does not automatically mean trafficked or abducted

The distinction between missing-person cases and crimes such as kidnapping, abduction and human trafficking is essential when examining these figures.

A missing-person report, by itself, does not establish that a person was abducted, trafficked, sexually exploited or subjected to any other offence.

The circumstances behind disappearances can vary, and each case requires investigation. The reported figures do not establish how many of the untraced women and girls are victims of criminal activity.

However, this uncertainty makes proper investigation and transparent case-status reporting even more important.

Authorities need to establish whether individuals have been located, whether their safety has been verified, whether criminal offences have been identified and whether any further protection or rehabilitation is required.

In the case of minors, the responsibility is especially significant because children cannot be treated simply as missing adults.

What protection mechanisms already exist?

India has an established legal and institutional framework for dealing with missing children.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 provides for Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), Special Juvenile Police Units (SJPUs) and designated Child Welfare Police Officers.

Child Welfare Committees are empowered to take decisions concerning children in need of care and protection, keeping their best interests in mind.

The Act also provides for specialised police arrangements to coordinate matters concerning children, including cases in which they are victims.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a Standard Operating Procedure for cases of missing children. The framework calls for urgent police action, coordination with child-protection authorities and steps to prevent further victimisation.

It recognises that a missing child may have been lost, abandoned, separated from family, abducted, kidnapped or trafficked. The circumstances must be established through appropriate investigation.

The procedure also emphasises that a child’s safety and well-being must be established before the case can be considered resolved.

Mission Vatsalya portal: can digital tracking improve tracing?

The Union Government has also strengthened digital mechanisms for tracking missing and found children.

In July 2026, the Ministry of Women and Child Development announced that the TrackChild portal and Khoya-Paya application had been integrated into the unified Mission Vatsalya Portal.

The system brings together several stakeholders, including state governments, Union Territory administrations, police authorities, Child Welfare Committees and Juvenile Justice Boards.

Importantly, the portal is integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), allowing missing-child FIR information to be matched with the portal’s records.

The government has also stated that state and district-level nodal officers for missing children have been appointed to strengthen monitoring and coordination.

Child Helpline 1098 and Emergency Response Support System 112 are available round the clock for children in difficult circumstances.

These measures provide an institutional framework for identifying and tracing missing children. However, the existence of a portal does not, by itself, establish how effectively it is being used in individual cases.

For Jammu and Kashmir, important questions remain about the timely entry of missing-child reports, the matching of police records, the monitoring of unresolved cases and the coordination between local police and child-protection institutions.

The publicly available RTI-based figures do not show how many of the 1,804 missing-girl reports were entered into the integrated system, how many generated useful leads or how long investigations remained pending.

The digital infrastructure must ultimately be measured by its ability to help locate children and ensure their safety.

Families need answers, not just case numbers

For families of missing women and girls, the most immediate concern is finding out what happened to their loved ones.

A meaningful response requires regular communication from investigating agencies, access to information about case progress and appropriate support during prolonged investigations.

In cases involving minors, tracing a child must also be followed by an assessment of safety and well-being. Simply locating a child does not necessarily mean that returning them to their previous circumstances is in their best interests.

Child Welfare Committees and other protection institutions have an important role in ensuring that children receive appropriate care, counselling and rehabilitation wherever required.

For adult women who are traced, their privacy, dignity and personal choices must also be respected.

A transparent system should distinguish between people who have been located, those whose safety has been verified, those who require protection and cases in which an investigation remains active.

The questions Jammu and Kashmir’s authorities must answer

The RTI-based figures provide a starting point for examining the issue, but they also underline the need for more detailed public information.

Authorities need to clarify:

• How many of the 4,271 untraced cases remain active investigations?
• How many cases have been closed, and on what recorded grounds?
• How many missing women and girls were traced within the first 24 hours, seven days, one month or a longer period?
• What is the district-wise distribution of missing and untraced cases?
• How many missing-girl cases were entered into the Mission Vatsalya and TrackChild systems?
• How many cases involved suspected kidnapping, abduction or trafficking, based on registered offences?
• What support has been provided to families of those who remain untraced?
• Are Child Welfare Committees and specialised police units adequately equipped to handle missing-child cases?

These are questions that require answers from the Jammu and Kashmir Home Department, Police Department and relevant child-protection authorities.

The objective is not to prejudge individual investigations or attribute criminal responsibility without evidence. It is to establish whether the systems designed to protect women and children are functioning effectively and whether unresolved cases receive sustained attention.

Every unresolved case represents a family still waiting

The figures from Jammu and Kashmir reveal more than the scale of reported disappearances. They highlight the need to examine what happens after a missing-person complaint reaches the authorities.

The fact that more than half of the reported missing-girl cases remain untraced makes the issue particularly urgent. Children require prompt action, coordinated investigation and protection that continues even after they are located.

For adult women, too, an unresolved disappearance demands a continuing investigative response and respect for their rights and dignity.

A missing-person register can record a complaint, and a digital portal can facilitate information sharing. But neither can replace sustained investigation, communication with families and accountability for cases that remain unresolved.

For the thousands of women and girls whose whereabouts remain unknown in the reported figures, the most important question is still unanswered: where are they, and what is being done to bring clarity to their families?