Child Helpline: for a child in distress or missing, 24 hours
Answer a few questions to see which steps apply to you. The whole guide is below.
The documents for this depend on your answers: answer the questions above to see yours.
Documents you need
Needed only in some situations
•
A recent photo of the missing person
original
• Yes, a child under 18 (step 3)
• No, 18 or older (step 5)
📷 What the photo must look like
• A recent photo.
Not confirmed: The rules give no size and no number of copies; the police make copies for the missing persons units and for notices. Ask at the station.
•
A description of the missing person
original
What they look like and any marks on the body, and the place they went missing from.
• Yes, a child under 18 (step 3)
• No, 18 or older (step 5)
Steps
Each box is one situation. To see only yours, answer the questions above.
Someone in my family is missing
1.
Call 112 at once. Say who is missing, and where and when they were last seen.
📞 By phone
Yes, a child under 18
2.
For a missing child, you can also call 1098 (the Child Helpline).
📞 By phone
3.
Go to the nearest police station and make a complaint. Women police constables at the station's help desk take reports of missing persons.
🏛️ The nearest police station
📎 A recent photo of the missing person, A description of the missing person
4.
The police must register a complaint about a missing child as an FIR at once. Under the Supreme Court's direction, each case is first taken as an abduction or trafficking, unless the investigation shows otherwise. Ask for the FIR number and note it down.
🏛️ The nearest police station
No, 18 or older
5.
Go to the nearest police station and report the person missing. Women police constables at the station's help desk take these reports.
🏛️ The nearest police station
📎 A recent photo of the missing person, A description of the missing person
Not confirmed: None of the official sources we read says whether you must wait before reporting a missing adult, whether the report is registered as an FIR, or what to bring (the rules on a photo and a description are for children). Ask at the station without delay.
Someone in my family is missing
6.
You can also send the complaint on WhatsApp to 8712656858, the Missing Persons Monitoring Cell of the Telangana Police Women Safety Wing.
📞 By phone
Yes, a child under 18
7.
Under the rules, the police collect a recent photo of the child, put out notices with the photo and a description, check CCTV recordings around the place the child went missing from, and enter the details on the portal. The national Mission Vatsalya portal is linked with the police records system (CCTNS), so FIRs of missing children can be matched with its records to trace them.
✋ You do this yourself
8.
When the child is found, the police bring the child before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The District Legal Services Authority gives counselling and support to the child and the family.
✋ You do this yourself
Someone in my family is missing
9.
For free legal help, go to the District Legal Services Authority in your district court complex, or call the NALSA helpline 15100. These authorities were set up to give free legal services to the weaker sections of society.
🏛️ District Legal Services Authority (district court complex)
Call 100, or 1098 for a child, and say where they are. You can also tell the nearest police station or the district AHTU.
📞 By phone
11.
If you take charge of a child who seems lost or abandoned, the law says you must tell the Childline (1098), the nearest police station, a Child Welfare Committee or the District Child Protection Unit within 24 hours (not counting travel time), or hand the child over to a registered child care institution. Not telling them is an offence: up to six months in jail, or a fine of ₹10,000, or both.
✋ You do this yourself
⏱️ within 1 days · Within 24 hours, not counting travel time
Fees and time limits
Step 11
• I have found a child or a person who seems lost
⏱️ within 1 days · Within 24 hours, not counting travel time
If something goes wrong
If it is rejected
For a missing child: the Supreme Court directed that every complaint about a missing child be registered as an FIR. If the station will not take the complaint, contact the District Legal Services Authority: the Court also said para-legal volunteers of the Legal Services Authorities should be at police stations to watch how these complaints are dealt with.
Telangana State Legal Services Authority (NALSA helpline)
For a missing child: if the child is not found within four months, the case goes to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU). The AHTU must report to the Legal Services Authority every three months. You can contact the Women Safety Wing's AHTU.