Abduction

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‘Abduction’ infringes the basic ‘right to life and liberty’ of a person, as embodied by ‘Article 14’ of the Indian Constitution.
Section 362 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) says that ‘whoever by force compels, or by any deceitful means induces, any person to go from any place, is said to abduct that person.’
- For example, ‘B’ slaps and hurts ‘A’ and tells her that if she does not leave with him, he will kill her. In this case, ‘B’ commits the offence of abduction as he uses forceful means to take ‘A’ away from her house.

By Force:
- Section 362 says that abduction can happen in two ways. One of these is force. In abduction, a person is forced to go from one place to another, against his/her will. The use of force, as mentioned in this section, must be actual, and not just a threat of force to constitute abduction.
Deceitful Means:
- The other way abduction can take place is by inducing someone to go from someplace by misleading him/her to do something he/she would not normally do. The scope of inducement is very wide.
To Go From Any Place:
- For abduction to be completed, it is essential that the person is compelled to go from one place to some other place, either forcefully or by using deceitful means. It cannot be called abduction if the person is not taken to someplace.
Punishment:
- An abduction is an auxiliary act, not punishable by itself unless accompanied with some intent specified under Section 364-366. So, a particular purpose is necessary to punish an accused.

Vishwanath v. State of Uttar Pradesh (1960):
- Supreme Court held that mere abduction is no offence at all. The guilty and wrongful intention must be present for the offence to be punishable.
State of West Bengal v. Mir Mohammad Omar (2000):
- The Supreme Court held that abduction takes place when a person is compelled by force to go from a place. Here the victim, Mahesh, was taken away from two places, first from his friends’ place, which he escaped from and second from the neighbor's place. In both instances, force was used. Hence, the accused were held liable.

Abduction in common language means carrying away of a person by fraud or force. In the United Kingdom, Kidnapping is used for both minors and adults, whereas in India kidnapping is used for minors and abduction for adults.
Sometimes due to unawareness, the proper complaints are not registered, and legal steps are unserved against the offender and hence justice is not provided.