Women comprise 61 per cent of Delhi's missing persons in 2025: Delhi Police

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) Women continued to dominate Delhi’s list of missing persons this year, accounting for 61 per cent (11,917) of the 19,682 people reported missing till October 15, according to Delhi Police data.

The data showed that men made up 39 per cent (7,765) of those missing. Among the total, 55 per cent (10,780) were traced – 61 per cent (6,541) women and 39 per cent (4,239) men, it added.

Among those missing, 25 per cent (4,854) were children and 75 per cent (14,828) were adults. Of those traced, 31 per cent (3,337) were children and 69 per cent (7,443) were adults, the data showed.

The data underlined that women and girls together form the most affected category among missing persons. Among the 4,854 missing children, 72 per cent (3,509) were girls and 28 per cent (1,345) boys, while in adults, 57 per cent (8,408) were women and 43 per cent (6,420) men.

Of the 304 missing children aged between 0 and 8 years, 41 per cent (124) were girls and 59 per cent (180) boys. Police traced 60 per cent (75) of the girls and 51 per cent (92) of the boys, the data showed.

In the 8 to 12 age group, 383 children went missing – 33 per cent (127) girls and 67 per cent (256) boys. Among these, 72 per cent (92) of the girls and 76 per cent (194) of the boys were found.

Teenagers formed the largest and most vulnerable section, with 4,167 children aged between 12 and 18 years going missing – 78 per cent (3,258) girls and 22 per cent (909) boys. Police traced 68 per cent (2,231) of the missing girls and 72 per cent (653) of the boys, it added.

The data shows that teenage girls are particularly at risk, both in terms of numbers and proportion, it read.

Last year, 24,893 people were reported missing in the city, of whom 59 per cent (14,752) were women and girls. Of these, 61 per cent (15,260) were traced.

A decadal analysis, from 2015 to 2025, showed that around 2.51 lakh people went missing in the national capital over the past ten years, including 56 per cent (1,42,037) women and 44 per cent (1,09,737) men.

The figures show that the proportion of missing females remained consistently high, continuing a long-term trend of gender imbalance, the Delhi Police data pointed out.

The trend has remained unchanged over the years. In 2023, 58 per cent of the 24,481 missing were women, while in 2022, this figure stood at 58 per cent of the 23,818 reported missing persons, showing a persistent gender gap in the missing persons cases. PTI SGV OZ OZ