93 Teenagers and Young People Missing in Barisal Division This Year Still Not Traced, Police Say

Police have still not traced 93 of the teenagers and young people reported missing in Barisal Division this year. Of those not yet rescued, 44 are aged between 10 and 18, and 49 are over 19.

Barisal police sources said police stations in the division's six districts recorded 1,362 missing-person general diaries (GDs) from January to July 2025. Everyone was later rescued and those GDs were settled.

In the same period this year, 1,689 missing-person GDs were filed. Of them, 1,596 people have been rescued, meaning 93 have still not been found. Police figures show 327 more missing-person GDs were filed in the first six months of this year, January to June, than in the same period last year.

According to police, a large share of those missing left home over romantic relationships. Some also left because of poverty and conflict with their families.

Range police data said that, of the 1,689 people reported missing in the first six months of this year, the GDs in 1,078 cases mentioned that they had left home because of a romantic relationship.

Citing information from those rescued, responsible police officials said some left home without telling their families in search of work because of poverty. They were later rescued from garment factories in Dhaka and other private factories.

As an example, Bakerganj police station officer-in-charge Adil Hossain said three Class 10 students of Darial Secondary School were rescued on 1 October from Shyampur Match Factory under Kadamtali police station in Dhaka. Relatives had filed a GD at Bakerganj police station on 29 September saying they had gone missing on their way to school.

Similarly, teenager Joy Mondal, 14, who went missing from Gournadi on 1 October, was later rescued while working at a restaurant in Barisal city.

Sajjad Parvez, principal of the Barisal regional training centre of the Department of Social Services, said social media, romantic matters, a lack of parental supervision and a lack of monitoring in schools and colleges are increasing this tendency to go missing. 'To get out of this situation, we need to raise awareness in families and schools,' he said.

Dr Md Sadikur Rahman, head of the sociology department at the University of Barisal, said: 'The number of missing teenagers is rising because of a lack of awareness in families. We once saw relationships among fathers and uncles; they disciplined children and teenagers. Now teenagers are addicted to mobile phones.' He said family ties must be strengthened and the issue must be raised in the education system to get out of this situation.

Barisal Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Md Zulfikar Ali Haider said everyone missing last year returned, but in the first six months of this year 93 people have not been found. Field-level police officers are still working to trace them.

DIG Zulfikar Ali Haider also said Parliament recently discussed concern over the rising tendency of teenagers to leave home. He expressed fear that the missing could be drawn into human trafficking or other bad professions. In his view, social media is a big factor in these incidents, and the education, social welfare and home ministries should work together to bring teenagers back from dangerous paths.