Guwahati, Feb 13 (IANS): Assam Women and Child Development Minister Ajanta Neog told the Assembly on Tuesday that over 3,700 children had gone missing in the state in the last three years and of them, 3,400 had been rescued by various agencies.

She stated that the government takes care of the rescued children if it is not possible to return them to their relatives.

In response to a query from Congress MLA Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah, Neog stated that 3,779 children were reported missing from their homes between 2021 and 2023. She said that 3,419 of these children were rescued.

According to her, rescued children who could give information about their parents and their addresses were returned to their relatives, while those who were unable to do so, were kept in children care centres.

The minister added that 3,522 of the 6,054 cases that were reported under the POCSO Act, 2012, between 2012 and 2023, had been resolved.

She also said that practically every district in the state had reported child trafficking incidents, with Kamrup, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, and Biswanath accounting for the majority of these crimes.