The bench also said: 'It's a completely traumatic situation for the parents to go to the police station and file the missing (person) complaint and then keep on following (it up) with no legal aid.'

The court also asked the police counsel to prepare a report on the children who returned to their homes after having gone missing.

'These statistics will help you (police) out in analysing the data and observe the trend,' the court said.

The court had taken note of the increasing number of missing children and ordered an inquiry by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR).

According to the affidavit filed by Delhi Police, 2,210 kids went missing from the capital between June 2008 and January this year and on an average 17 children go missing every day.