Four children dead and 891 missing from India's government homes : who is responsible?

Since 2001, 891 children have 'disappeared' and four have died in unexplained circumstances at children's homes run by the Karnataka State Department of Women and Children. Now is your chance to petition the Indian government, to prevent vulnerable children going missing from juvenile homes. This petition has been drawn up by Odanadi Seva Samthe, a community-based organisation based in Mysore, Karnataka, South India, which works to combat human trafficking, the exploitation of children and gender-based violence (www.odanadi-uk.org). It recently used the Indian Right to Information Act to discover that 891 children have gone missing from government juvenile homes in the state of Karnataka in the last 10 years. This means that at least one child per week has gone missing whilst in the care of the state government. In addition, during the same period four children have died in unexplained circumstances whilst in the care of the state government. We demand that the State Department of Women and Child Development takes immediate steps to trace the missing children. In addition, we demand that it mounts an enquiry to determine the precise circumstances in which the four children died to determine who was responsible and whether any charges need to be brought. There is an urgent need to review conditions in these homes. Proper procedures must be introduced to ensure public bodies are held accountable when they have manifestly failed in their duty of care to children they are looking after. The government should also announce exactly what legal actions have been taken against the authorities in charge of these government run homes. The Indian government needs to be put under international pressure to develop more effective care and protection for the children it looks after. Please petition the Indian Prime Minister now to demand this and investigate this appalling dereliction of duty by the Karnataka State Department of Women and Child Development.