430 children missing, most sold for prostitution - Police report

Sunday, 25 July 2010 13:44  - Lanka Truth

430 children have been missing during the first four months of this year states a report by Women and Child Bureau. Among the under aged children missing are 270 girls and 150 boys. So far only 225 of the missing children have been traced. According to the report most of the children have run away from their homes while kidnapping too has been a major cause for the disappearances. Most of the children missing were between the age groups of 12 and 18 years, and 117 of them were 16-years-old the report states. Most of the disappearances of children have been reported from Anuradhapura which records 50 children missing during the period from January to April 2010. Most of the kidnappings were carried out either to sell the children for prostitution or for adoption. However, kidnapping children to engage in prostitution is considered to be a major cause, and in many cases, men have forced young girls to run away from their homes, promising to get married, but had later sold them to brothels.