16-25-year-olds make up half of Mumbai's missing people
What's the story
Replying to a Right To Information (RTI) query, the Mumbai Police has said that nearly half of the people reported missing in the city every year are in the age group of 16 to 25 years.
Overall, a total of 32,598 people were reported missing from Mumbai in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
27,565 of them were eventually found, the police said.
Data
Numbers of 'missing' going up and 'found' going down
A total of 10,916 people were reported missing in 2014, out of which 10,605 (97%) were found. Out of 10,313 reported missing in 2015, 9,375 (90%) were found. In 2016, 11,369 were reported missing and 7,585 (66%) were found.
Male-female ratio
Females reported missing slightly more than males
Out of the total missing people, 34 were found dead in 2014, 45 in 2015 and 38 in 2016.
The number of females reported missing in these three years (16,533) was slightly more than males (16,065).
The Mumbai Police's centralized branch, the Missing Persons Bureau, deals with such cases, irrespective of the place where the person is missing in the country.
'Sensitive' age group
16-25 years a 'sensitive' age, people take decisions emotionally: Activist
Vijay Vaidya, a former journalist and social activist who helps in tracing missing persons, said 16 to 25 years was a "sensitive" age group when people have a lot of aspirations in life and take decisions emotionally.
He cited examples of young aspiring actors and boys and girls who run away from their homes over fears of not doing well in exams.