The number of untraced missing children substantially increased by 15% inAndhra Pradeshin 2020 compared to 2019, according to the latest Crime in India report released by theNational Crime Records Bureau(NCRB).

By the end of 2020, 636 children, including 549 from previous years, were yet to be traced. In 2019, 549 children were yet to be traced.

Around 58% of the untraced children are girls while 264 are boys. With the increase in number of untraced children, the total tracing rate has dropped to 80.7% in 2020 compared to 83.3% in 2019.

Last year, a total of 2,745 children went missing, of which 2,092 were girls, accounting for 76% of cases.

In 2019, the number of cases of missing children stood at 2,476, however, the Percentage of missing girl children increased by 6% in 2020 compared to 2019. On the bright side, 2,658 children who went missing in 2020 were traced the same year.