MUMBAI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Human trafficking of women and children has reached alarming proportion in India's western state of Maharashtra with 28,316, 29,279 and 33,964 of them missing in the year 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively, media quoted figures from the National Crime Records Bureau as reporting on Tuesday.
India's financial capital Mumbai and Pune recorded the highest number of missing women at 4,718 and 5,201 in 2017 and 2018, while in Pune, the number of missing women for the same years was 2,576 and 2,504 respectively, The Hindu newspaper reported.
The report was part of the study directed by the country's Supreme Court to analyze the data on missing persons so that areas prone to people being trafficked can be identified.
"The need for the study arises because of the fact that incidents of missing women and children are not uniform across the country. Some parts of the country report higher incidents and such areas could be one of the source, transit or destination (sites) for child /women trafficking," the crime bureau report said.
Eastern state of West Bengal and central state of Madhya Pradesh closely followed Maharashtra to hold the dubious distinction of taking the second and third position.
In West Bengal, the number of missing women during the three years under review were 24,937, 28,133 and 31,299, while in Madhya Pradesh the number stood at 21,435, 26,587 and 29,761.
During the three years of 2016-18, a total of 63,407, 63,349 and 67,134 children were reported to be missing across the country with most number missing from Maharashtra state.
