- Photo-journalist Mansi Thapliyal met parents of missing children to listen to their stories
- She was inspired to try to highlight the issue after a five-year-old girl died following a gang-rape
- Children's and women's issues have been given unprecedented attention after the death of student in December
- In a separate case, a 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of raping a four-year-old girl
- According to Thapliyal, 725 children have been reported missing in Delhi this year alone
By Becky Evans
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Nazeem and Rashma Khan have crossed India in a desperate search to find their three-year-old daughter.
Little Tyaba was with her parents at a family friend's wedding reception in Delhi when she disappeared.
Since then, her devoted parents have searched adoption homes, red light districts and orphanages in all of India's major cities but hope is fading.
Their loss is shared by thousands of families, whose children simply vanished.
Seven-year-old Mansi poses with a photograph of her missing three-year-old sister Muskaan inside their house in New Delhi April 28, 2013. Hers is one of a collection of haunting photos taken by photographer Mansi Thapliyal, who wants to raise awareness of India's missing children
Pannalal, 33, a construction worker, holds a photograph of his missing eight-year-old daughter Bhuriya as his wife Sheela, 30, stands inside their house in New Delhi
Sheela, 30, holds a woollen cap belonging to her missing daughter Bhuriya, eight, who disappeared from a weekly market near the family home on May 11, 2010
Their stories have formed a project by photographer Mansi Thapliyal, who met families of missing children to highlight the issue in the country.
This year alone 725 children in Delhi have been reported missing and are untraced, according to data from India's Zonal Integrated Police Network website.
Children's and women's rights have been unprecedented focus in India in recent months, since a Delhi student died in December after being gang-raped on a public bus.
Her death sparked furious protests in the country and cases of child abuse and child rape have since been given greater attention.
Yoga teacher Sarita Gupta, 51, holds a doll belonging to her missing daughter Ambika, 15, who went missing almost three years ago
Rekha, 30, sitting with son Shyam, shows a picture of her daughter Deepali, seven, who went missing from school in November, 2010
Atika disappeared when she went to use a public toilet. Her parents Azhar, 51, and his wife Shabra, 45, have been left devastated
Shabra, 45, reads the school notebook of her daughter Atika, 10, who went missing while visiting a public toilet
In the latest shocking incident, a 20-year-old man has been arrested in Delhi on suspicion of raping a four-year-old girl.?
A neighbour found the girl, who was home alone, crying after the alleged attack.
She was taken to hospital where she was described as being in a stable condition.
It comes after a five-year-old girl died after being gang-raped in Madhya Pradesh.
Reuters photo-journalist Thapliyal said the project was inspired by the crime and she wanted to investigate the affect such disappearances have on the families that are left behind.?
Aanchal Gupta, 21, stands in front of dolls belonging to her missing sister Ambika that still hang on the wall almost three years after she disappeared
Mehmun Khan, 30, says her daughter was abducted by a woman posing as a volunteer from a government welfare program. She holds up a dress she bought for the 10-year-old while sitting next to her son Imran (right) and daughter Nazia
Hema Devi, 35, holds a pair of school shoes belonging to her missing seven-year-old daughter Kajal, who disappeared while playing outside the family home in New Delhi
She said: 'Nothing can surpass the agony and desperation that has become their lives. The haunted looks on their faces speak of pain which is beyond all comprehension.
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'I?m not sure if my pictures will bring these missing daughters back to their parents, but maybe they?ll make people stop and think about the next time they see a girl begging on the side of the street or a young maid working inside a home.
'It?s time to stop being silent spectators and take steps in the right direction or else who knows if the nightmare might come knocking on our doors.'
Among the seemingly endless list of names of missing children are Atika, 10, who disappeared in August 2008 after going to use a communal toilet close to her house.
A poster of missing fifteen-year-old Ambika is pictured on a wall outside a police station in New Delhi. This year 725 children were reported missing in the city
Mamta, 32, poses with a dress belonging to her missing seven-year-old daughter Bharti inside her makeshift shelter in New Delhi
Chandravati's three-year-old daughter Muskaan, whose trousers she is holding, went missing while playing near the family home
Her mother is still making a 'bistra' - a bedsheet given to Muslim brides on their wedding day - for her daughter in the hope she will come home.
Ambika, 15, has not been seen since October 10, 2010, when her mother awoke to find her daughter had vanished from her bed.
NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan said about 65 per cent of children that go missing are girls, according to Thapliyal's research.
Most of those are taken and forced into the sex trade or trafficked to work as domestic workers.
Tyaba, three, disappeared from a family friend's wedding reception in October, 2009. A framed photograph of the child rests on a bed headboard at the family home
Tyaba's father Nazeem Khan (left) and mother Rashma (right) have searched across the country for their daughter, visiting adoption homes, red light districts and orphanages
Most families are too poor to search for their children themselves.
They rely on the police, who have been accused of corruption and heavily criticised in the recent rape cases that have shocked India.
Mamta's family, who earn just $4 a day, are relying on NGOs to try to find their daughter Bharti, who disappeared in April this year from near their home.
The photographer said: 'For four days, I met parents of girls who had gone missing. Every story was different, every story was equally sad.
''I spent hours with them, listening to their harrowing tales, understanding the grief and misery these families were going through. Only then did I turn my camera on to take pictures.
'Despite retelling their stories again and again over many years to hundreds of people, the mothers I met still cried their eyes out for their missing daughters when they spoke to me.'
Hema Devi, 35, pictured with her son Sumit and daughter Sunita, has not seen her third child Kajal since April 21, 2010,
Mamta, 32, sits with a relative inside a non-governmental organisation working for child rights as she tries to finds her daughter Bharti, seven, who went missing from a construction site where the family live and work
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