The police has just revealed the missing children statistics and it’s absolutely staggering!
Can you believe that on average, four children go missing every day in our country? In just the first six months of 2017, 723 cases of missing children have been recorded in 181 days!
Source: Youtube
Of the 723 cases, 447 were girls and 276 were boys. It’s sad to hear that children of 345 cases have been successfully found, while 378 are still missing. 🙁
The investigation revealed that more than half of the cases involved teenagers who ran away from home because they were seeking for a taste of freedom. Believe it or not, these teenage runaways are mostly girls aged between 13 and 15.
This is especially dangerous as they are at great risk of falling victim to rape, according to Asst Comm Ong Chin Lan from the Sexual, Woman and Child Investigation division.
Source: The Star
“Their personality evolves when they get to secondary school and psychologically, they go through hormonal changes and start to have libido.
“At that age, they want to have their own identity and opinion. They feel that they want to be themselves,” ACP Ong said.
Therefore, these emotional teenage girls would gladly abandon their homes to follow some strangers they barely know through social media.
“They meet guys and contact them via apps such as Facebook and WeChat,” Ong added.
One child as young as eight years old was even found exchanging racy photos with men through WeChat!
When such case happens, the child isn’t the only one to be blamed.
“Parents, when you give your child a gadget, monitor them. Put laptops or desktops in the living room so the child knows that at any time, there is somebody supervising,” Ong said.
Source: Jigsy
In the event that a child goes missing, what should you do?
“If there is a possibility of kidnapping, don’t blast it out, lodge a police report first.
“Once you make it viral, the kidnappers will realise it is dangerous to contact the family and might give up and kill the child,” she said.
Although the number of missing children is big, there are some cases where the children have been found but the parents failed to update the police. The police would only find out that the children have safely returned home during a periodic investigation review.
Children are still young and they aren’t mature enough to make the right decision. So it’s up to the parents to guide them through this critical age and prevent others from leading them astray.
So spread the word and help raise the awareness guys!
Also read: Abducted Girl Jumps Out of Moving Car While Kidnapper Crashes and Caught by Public
