Disappearance Crisis in Delhi Exposes Failure to Protect Women and Children

Aatika Sajid, National Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India, expresses profound shock and outrage at the alarming disappearance of more than eight hundred individuals in Delhi during the first fifteen days of January 2026. Women and girls constituted nearly two thirds of these cases, totaling five hundred and nine. This deeply distressing figure, averaging fifty four disappearances per day, includes one hundred and ninety one minors, among them one hundred and forty six girls, highlighting the extreme vulnerability of young people and women. While authorities have managed to trace two hundred and thirty five individuals, five hundred and seventy two remain unaccounted for, leaving countless families in anguish and exposing a grave systemic failure in safeguarding citizens.

This crisis is not an isolated occurrence but part of a troubling decade long pattern. Nearly two lakh thirty thousand missing persons have been reported in Delhi over the past ten years. with around fifty two thousand cases still unresolved. In 2025 alone, more than twenty four thousand five hundred people disappeared, with women accounting for over sixty percent, pointing to deep rooted structural issues such as human trafficking, distress migration, and inadequate law enforcement.

The full month of January 2026 recorded one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven cases. Although slightly lower than the average monthly figure of two thousand, this offers no comfort when human lives remain at stake. Districts such as Outer North continue to bear a disproportionate burden, worsened by persistent socioeconomic marginalization.

The Social Democratic Party of India strongly condemns the continuing apathy toward women’s safety, which cannot be sacrificed for political expediency or administrative inertia. We demand immediate judicial oversight, strengthened surveillance in high risk areas, and effective inter state coordination to dismantle trafficking networks. The government must urgently prioritize preventive strategies, including community awareness, rapid response mechanisms, and victim protection systems to safeguard vulnerable populations. SDPI remains steadfast in its commitment to justice, equality, and the protection of constitutional rights, and calls for a united national response to end this disturbing epidemic of disappearances that threatens the very fabric of our democracy.