On 28 February 2025, a significant meeting was held by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in Kalaburagi to address the escalating issue of child trafficking especially along the border districts of Karnataka.
Fr. Kuriakose, Director of Don Bosco PYaR, was invited to share his insights with the stakeholders. During the meeting and based on the experience of rescuing children from various exploitative situations, Fr. Kuriakose highlighted key concerns: including the urgent need for prompt and thorough investigations into trafficking cases, ensuring the protection of children through proper social investigation reports (SIR), and ensuring a safer environment for children at risk.
The meeting concluded with the formation of a Special Task Force aimed at combating child trafficking in Kalaburagi. This task force, which includes representatives from Don Bosco Kalaburagi, law enforcement, CWCs, DCPOs, and other NGOs, is committed to a collaborative approach to tackling child trafficking. Together, they will monitor, investigate, and act swiftly to protect vulnerable children in Kalaburagi, ensuring a safer future for those at risk.
As with other atrocities against children, the exact extent of the problem is unknown because of the lack of reporting and unavailability of data. In response to a call from Parliament in September 2024, the Minister for Home Affairs could only offer an official report for 2022, according to which, in Karnataka, 1717 children went missing, some were traced, and 544 remained missing at the end of the year. Similarly, 14595 girls above 18 years went missing and 3415 of them remained missing. The veracity of this data is clearly debatable, as in Mysuru alone (one of 31 districts in Karnataka), the district courts recorded 584 cases of child trafficking in 2023.
It is these realities on the ground that are causing great concern among various stakeholders involved in child safeguarding, both governmental and non-governmental. The District Legal Services Authority has initiated Special Task Forces in various districts to combat child trafficking. In acknowledgment of their contributions and key roles in protecting child rights, the Don Bosco partners in Mysuru and Yadagiri, in addition to Kalaburagi, have been invited to join the special task forces.
Law enforcement agencies and social workers know that the first 24 hours are vital to trace and rescue a missing child or woman from traffickers. For this reason, the ongoing interventions by BREADS and the Don Bosco partners for the young at risk, such as the Child Safety Net initiative, play a very important role in creating informed, vigilant caring communities and first responders on the ground, who can respond immediately and report about children in distress.
