India, March 25 -- The Centre on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that hundreds of cases of missing girl children have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir over the past five years, with a significant number of them traced by authorities.

Replying to an unstarred question, the Minister of State for Home Affairs said that data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that in 2023, a total of 509 girl children (below 18 years) were reported missing in Jammu and Kashmir, of which 209 were traced, while 300 remained untraced.

As per the data accessed, 502 cases of missing girl children were reported in 2022, while in 2021 the number stood at 443. In 2020, 350 cases were reported, and 355 cases were recorded in 2019 across the ...