A face recognition tool developed by Telangana police has helped in reuniting a missing girl from Assam with her family on December 16.

Anjali Tigga of Boginodi in Assam’s Lakhimpur went missing on August 1, 2016, from a tea garden in Lakhimpur. Reportedly, she moved to Delhi in search of a better livelihood. The 16-year-old girl then went back to Assam in September and settled in Sonitpur.

The face recognition tool called Darpan, which has been developed by the Telangana police, alerted the authorities that the girl was admitted to a children’s shelter home in Tezpur, Assam. Railway police saw her wandering on the streets and handed her to Child Welfare authorities, who in turn admitted her in the shelter home.

#FacialRecognition
Anjali Tigga 16yrs, missing since 2016 from Lakhimpur, Assam found at Sonitpur Child Care Institution using #TelanganaPolice Facial Recognition Tool ‘Darpan’.
Emotional reunion followed…..@TelanganaDGP @shesafe_ts pic.twitter.com/CTZEoOanlo

— Swati Lakra IPS (@IGWomenSafety) December 16, 2018

“We immediately alerted the police at Tezpur and they contacted the Children Home in Sonitpur, Tezpur. The girl was then united with her family members on Sunday,” IG (L&O), Woman Safety Wing, Swati Lakra told The Times of India.

India’s missing children

Operation Smile is a national campaign to rescue child labourers and locate missing children. The second phase of Operation Smile was started by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 1 January 2016. Under the first phase of Operation Smile, it was reported that 9146 children had been rescued or rehabilitated.
Under the ongoing second phase of Operation Smile, all children residing in shelter homes, platforms, bus stands, roads, religious places, etc. are to be screened by trained police personnel. Furthermore, particulars of any rescued children will be uploaded on the ‘Missing child’ portal of the Ministry of Women and Child Development by the respective State Police. Rehabilitation measures, whenever needed, are to be taken up in coordination with the other Government departments so that the scope of re-victimization is eliminated.

It has also been emphasised that public awareness should be increased by way of national campaign and advertisement on national media, etc.

Also Read: 200 Child Labourers Rescued In Telangana As Part Of National Campaign To Find Missing Children