KOCHI: Last month, a 16-year-old girl who left home to buy medicines for her mother went missing in Njarakkal. Police, who initiated an investigation based on a missing-persons complaint filed by her parents, traced her to Cherthala. Their probe revealed that she had eloped with her boyfriend, whom she got acquainted with through Instagram.
In a more recent incident in Angamaly, a 22-year-old woman was reported missing. The police investigation showed she had left home to live with her lover, whom she met through Facebook.
The number of missing person cases in the district, with most of them teenagers, is on the rise. This has been attributed to teens spending most of their time on social media. According to police, an average of four-five cases of missing individuals are registered in the district every day.
Around 80% of missing cases involve teenagers in the 16-25 age group, say police. “Social media is a major villain. Teenagers get acquainted with strangers in a very short span of time. In most cases, parents won’t agree to their demands, and this will end up in elopement. The number of such incidents has been on the rise, coinciding with the increase in popularity of social media,” said Laljy, retired DCP (administration), when asked about the increasing trend of missing cases.
Data available with Ernakulam Rural police show that 835 missing cases were registered in 2023, up from 748 a year earlier. This was 620 in 2021.
Police sources say family issues play a key role in most missing cases. “Earlier, financial matters were also a factor, but not anymore. Even the number of middle-aged persons who go missing has dropped. In most cases, it’s teenage girls in the 16-25 age group that end up going missing, which is a matter of concern,” said an officer.
Police say there have been several cases of boys in the age group of 10-15 being reported missing. “Recently, two boys went missing from Kochi. When we traced them to Thiruvananthapuram, we realized that they were there to shoot a YouTube video,” an officer said.