India launches “Khoya Paya”, a website for missing children

India recently launched "Khoya Paya" which means 'lost and found.' A website funded by its government to aid families in finding missing children.

Kidnapping children is a common crime in India and it repeatedly happens as abducted children are reportedly used in forced labor while some are sexually exploited.

Most of the missing Indian children are never found; leaving parents, friends and relatives devastated for life.

More than 70,000 children are reported missing in India each year. Statistics are based on India's National Crime Records Bureau, However only 73,597 children have been found for the past three years.

Now the government has found a way to help distraught families, a chance to find their little angels by coming up with "Khoya Paya" (www.khoyapaya.gov.in), a website solely built for finding missing children.

Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi has helped launched "Khoya Paya" and has stated that the website serves as a portal for parents and relatives to register their missing children's personal information and other pertinent details. At the same time, concerned citizens can report sightings of kidnapped or abducted children on the website as well.

All these make "Khoya Paya" a convenient one-stop shop in fighting kidnapping. Young children living in the slum areas of India are reportedly the most vulnerable prey to such crimes, since most of the kidnapped victims come from poor families.

Gandhi added that the website is the first of its kind in India and said that she is happy to have launched "Khoya Paya."

"It was felt that we could have this portal, where if a child goes missing, families can put the details and the picture onto 'Khoya Paya'", said Gandhi.

All information entered on the website are reportedly coursed through police and state authorities directly, allowing parents to easily file their kidnapping incidents easily, while concerned citizens can log-on and report sightings of abducted children quickly and conveniently.