Missing child's complaint can be lodged with police through SMS

A missing child's complaint can also be lodged with the police through SMS, according to a standard operating procedure (SOP) notified by the Centre on Thursday to deal with such cases.

On receiving such a complaint, the police will first record it on the general station diary and subsequently register a FIR after preliminary verification of the complainant, the SOP also stipulates.

“In addition to all the regular means of filing a complaint i.e. in person, over the phone, over the e-mail, or other communications, a missing child's complaint may be filed through SMS to the authorities,” read the SOP.

The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry has developed the SOP for tracing of missing children following a Supreme Court directive in 2015. The SOP stipulates that a station house officer (SHO), on registration of missing child's case, will make an assessment of the risk involved and determine the urgency of investigation and areas of inquiry.

The SHO will also determine the types of specialist knowledge that might be needed to trace and recover the missing child. The officer will determine the agencies to be first alerted about the missing child. The SHOs concerned will have to fill up a "Risk Assessment Form" and put these exercises on record.

The FIR will be forwarded to the special juvenile police unit of the police station for an “immediate action” for tracing the missing child. The officer concerned will upload the information about the missing child along with his recent photograph at www.trackthemissingchild.gov.in and also forward it to other agencies including Railway Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

According to the SOP, the police will leave no stone unturned to trace the missing child.

“Distribute hue and cry notice at all the outlets of the city or town. Search areas and spots of interest such as movie theatres, shopping malls, parks, game parlours and areas where missing or runaway children should be identified and watched,” the SOP provides.

Where a child cannot be traced within a period of four months, the investigation of the case will be transferred to the anti-human trafficking unit in the district “which shall make reports every three months to the District Legal Services Authority regarding the progress made in the investigation.”

“If trafficking or any other element of organised crime is suspected, a specialized team shall be instituted fo an investigation headed by the SHO,” the SOP further stipulates.