97.6 pct of 15,042 missing children and teenagers found — Dr Wan Azizah

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97.6 per cent or 14,679 of the missing children and teenagers have been found, leaving only 363 still missing. AFP FIle Photo

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 15,042 children and teenagers were reported missing from 2011 to May this year, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said.

She said according to the Royal Malaysian Police’s statistics, 97.6 per cent or 14,679 of the missing children and teenagers have been found, leaving only 363 still missing.

Of the total, she said Johor recorded the highest number of cases with 2,372 cases followed by Selangor (1,911) and Kedah (1,526).

Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, also revealed that in 26 cases, the children and teenagers involved were found dead.

“However, there has been a decline in the number of cases of children and teenagers going missing with a significant drop recorded from 2018 to May this year,” she said in reply to P. Kasthuriraani (PH-Batu Kawan) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here yesterday.

Kasthuriraani had wanted to know the efforts undertaken by the government to tackle the issue of missing children in the country.

Dr Wan Azizah said these children and teenagers went missing because of several reasons, which include them wanting to gain freedom, being influenced by friends or lured by lovers, having a family conflict or experiencing parental neglect, seeking employment or simply not interested in attending school. — Bernama