‘Social media plays main role in girls eloping’— Police

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, May 24: True to its double-edged sword nature, social media—though helps in finding missing persons—also facilitates the elopement of teenage girls from Dimapur, according to police.

An official from the Women police station in Dimapur told Eastern Mirror that most of the girls who go missing are between the age of 10 and 18.

“Today’s teenagers are experts (sic) in finding romance online and this is one of the main reasons that leads to teens from the state eloping,” said the official.

It was informed that since January till date, a total number of 45 girls have gone missing from Dimapur. Thirty-five of them have been successfully traced, she said.

“Girls especially below 18 years think they have found love online and decide to elope with the guy who is also a teenager in most cases,” informed the official.

According to her, 80-90% cases of elopement were associated with teens owning mobile phones and having access to social media.

She informed that after the rescue, the children are handed over to their parents after which they are encouraged to undergo counselling at a child welfare centre.

Asked why there were only a few cases registered, the official replied that most parents and guardians prefer not to reveal the incident ‘due to social norms.’

“Parents are more worried about what society will think if they find out that their daughter is missing, hence they hardly file a case and deal with it on their own,” informed the policewoman.

According to her, police have managed to keep ‘a good control over trafficking’ as the girls are traced quickly and brought home before falling into the hands of traffickers.

“Most of them explain that they want to work in cities and earn a living. But how can they (work there), when they have not even finished high school?” she reasoned.

The official urged all parents to have pictures of their children which, she said, plays a vital role in finding them if they go missing.

“It is the most helpful tool in finding a missing person as we can pass it on to our counter departments in other neighbouring states which quickens the search process,” said the official while also encouraging the village councils to also have photos of all its residents for any eventuality.