At least 16,397 women and girls, including minors, have gone missing in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019, with 4,271 still untraced, raising serious concerns about their safety.The data was accessed by The Tribune through an RTI application filed with the J&K Home Department. While the department did not provide district-wise details of the cases, the numbers themselves are concerning.The figures show that 14,593 adult women went missing in J&K between 2019 and June 2026. Of them, 11,338 were traced, while 3,255 remain missing.Similarly, 1,804 minor girls went missing between 2019 and August 2026. While 788 were traced, 1,016 remain missing.Overall, the authorities have traced 12,126 of the 16,397 missing women and girls, leaving more than 26 per cent of the cases unresolved.The number of missing adult women stood at 1,388 in 2019 and 1,398 in 2020 before rising to 1,854 in 2021. The figure dipped slightly to 1,766 in 2022, but witnessed a sharp increase in the subsequent year, when 2,242 women were reported missing.A similar trend was observed among minor girls. While 150 girls were reported missing in 2019, the number dropped to 122 in 2020 before increasing to 221 in 2021 and 249 in 2022. The cases further rose to 261 in 2023, before dropping to 226 in 2024 and reaching 289 in 2025.Official records show that 2025 recorded the highest number of missing adult women at 2,595 cases. Of these, 2102 were traced, while 493 remain untraced. The second-highest figure was reported in 2023, when 2,242 adult women went missing, of whom 699 remain untraced.Among girls below 18 years of age, 2025 recorded 289 missing cases, with 166 still untraced. This year, up to August, 286 girls were reported missing, of whom 158 remain untraced.The figures are particularly worrying because more than half of all missing minor girl cases reported since 2019 remain unresolved.Interestingly, as per the National Crime Records Bureau data for 2024, J&K recorded 1,202 cases pertaining to kidnapping, abducting or inducing women to compel them for marriage under Section 87 of the BNS.