The study, titled ‘Missing Children in West Bengal’, which was released on Tuesday, points out that the missing kids are a part of 3,429 children who are trafficked from their homes to work as domestic helps or are sold into brothels. The findings also reveal that nearly half the children are trafficked to Delhi through a nexus of agents.

The survey was conducted by the Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare and a UK-based NGO, Save the Children. It concentrated on three blocks - Sandeshkhali I, Sandeshkhali II in North 24 Parganas and Patharpratima in South 24 Parganas.

The aim was to gauge the extent of child trafficking, its causes, trafficking rackets, their modus operandi, and the social factors surrounding the menace. A house-to-house survey was done with detailed profiling of the missing children.

“The findings are alarming. We intend to do such studies throughout the state. This was a pilot project which helped us understand the reality of child trafficking at the grassroots level,” said K P Sinha, state director of Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare.

The elaborate study covered eight gram panchayats of Sandeshkhali I and II, and 15 of the Patharpratima block. A total of 265 villages were covered.

It was found that 3,429 children were trafficked from their homes, of which 271 are missing since 2005 (199 from Sandeshkhali I, 54 from Sandeshkhali II and 18 from Patharpratima). The survey found that around 66.67 per cent of these are girls.

Of the missing children, 82.92 per cent had left their home for work and 11.67 per cent for marriage. “Most of the children are taken out of the village by a racket of contractors or agents. The modus operandi is simple. Local sub-agents lure the children away from their parents with a prospect of good work, income and a better life, while others with the prospect of marriage. The economically poor families are targeted. At a particular time an agent comes and takes the children away in groups after paying a paltry sum to the parents. A casual contract is drawn on paper,” said Shireen Vakil Miller, head, advocacy and policy, Save the Children.

“They are then taken to placement agencies, mostly in Delhi. Ultimately, these children are categorised and sent to do domestic chores or they are sold off to music bars or red light areas. Some of the girls are sold as brides to states with a lower sex ratio. It takes the parents a long time to realise that their children are missing. Yet, fear prevents them from lodging a complaint. So, a majority of the cases go unreported,” said project coordinator Manadendra Roy.