Mumbai, March 25 Over the past 13 years, more than 91,000 missing girls have been traced and reunited with their families in Maharashtra, highlighting improvements in tracking mechanisms and enforcement, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the legislative assembly on Wednesday.
Nearly 60 per cent of the missing cases involving girls were linked to romantic relationships, he said.
The Supreme Court's directives mandating that every missing person case be treated as a case of kidnapping have strengthened police response and investigation. The government has set up special cells and introduced a ranking system for police stations to improve tracing efficiency, he stated.
"From January 2012 to December 2025, a total of 1,37,211 boys and girls went missing, of whom 1,31,737 were traced. Of the approximately 95,000 missing girls, more than 91,000 have been found and sent back home," Fadnavis said while replying to a discussion in the House.
The CM, who holds the Home portfolio, noted that an analysis of cases indicated that 56.86 per cent of girls went missing due to romantic relationships, including interfaith affairs, while 21.38 per cent were linked to family disputes.
Other reasons included mental pressure, education, illness, and a small proportion of actual kidnappings.
On crimes against women, he said 99 per cent of rape cases were detected, with 99.31 per cent of offences committed by persons known to the victims. Chargesheets were filed in 92 per cent of such cases.
Highlighting criminal justice reforms, the CM stated the implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which replaced the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), had significantly improved timelines for investigation and trial, with 84 per cent of processes such as summons and recording of statements now digitized.
The filing of chargesheets within 60 days in criminal cases punishable up to 10 years had increased to 46 per cent from 2 to 3 per cent earlier. Conviction rates had risen to 78 per cent under the new criminal laws compared to just about 9 per cent in 2012-13, he told the assembly.
There was a decline in several major crimes between 2024 and 2025, including robbery, molestation, and dacoity, though cases of attempt to murder, kidnapping, and drug-related offences had increased. Detection rates in kidnapping cases had improved, Fadnavis noted.
The chief minister said the government had taken multiple steps to strengthen cyber crime investigation, though recovery of defrauded amounts remained a challenge when funds were routed to countries which provided limited cooperation.
Maharashtra's cyber crime project had received international recognition, he added.
