Kerala: Family issues behind nearly 1 in 3 child missing cases
As many as 932 children were reported missing in Kerala between January and May 2026, according to the State's Women and Child Development department (WCD). Of these, family issues and stress accounted for 343 cases, a submission by the department at a zonal consultation for southern States stated.
The consultation was convened by a committee constituted by the Supreme Court to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) on missing children and child or human trafficking. The data revealed that elopement with romantic partners or friends was the second most common reason, accounting for 161 cases, while nine cases were categorised as kidnapping. Officials noted that most of these children were traced within a week.
The department also provided figures for previous years. In 2023, 2,401 children went missing, of whom 2,397 were traced. In 2024, 2,665 of 2,681 missing children were traced. In 2025, all but 26 of the 2,600 reported missing were traced.
The WCD submission further pointed out that fertility in Kerala has fallen below replacement levels. It cited international experience suggesting that when fertility declines while demand for children and cheap labour persists, markets in human beings — including infants, children and women for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced labour, organ removal and begging — can expand unless systems are built in advance to counter them.
To prevent child trafficking and child labour, the department conducted 716 drives during 2025-26, of which 168 were carried out jointly with the police. Rescued children were either released to their families, placed in institutional care, or repatriated through child welfare committees. Where trafficking involved the family's connivance, children were not restored to the family, and their care and protection vested with the State authorities and the child welfare committees.
The WCD also reported that 44 meetings of district-level task forces for missing children had been held. These task forces, which function through inter-departmental coordination involving Labour, WCD, Kerala Police, Health, and local self-government institutions, have identified 150 hotspots related to child trafficking and children in street situations.
Interestingly, 61% of the children reported missing in the first five months of 2026 came from above-the-poverty-line (APL) households. “The emotional, social and economic vacuum around the child — not the stranger at the gate — drives most disappearances,” the WCD noted.
To address these underlying issues, the State plans to implement ward-wise vulnerability mapping of families by District Child Protection Units (DCPUs). Other measures include panchayat-level support committees to handle economic, social and mental-health problems of mapped families; a supervised cadre of trained social-work students and practitioners assigned to vulnerable children for sustained emotional support; and regular awareness classes in schools and anganwadis covering grooming, enticement, online risks, safe migration, and lawful complaint channels. Additionally, counselling-led repatriation will be institutionalised through DCPU counsellors, with continued interventions in identified hotspots and continuation of Saranabalyam drives.
