SC upholds life imprisonment for kidnapper of 9-year-old boy

New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) While upholding the life imprisonment of the kidnapper of a nine-year-old boy, the Supreme court expressed serious concern over the increasing incidence of abduction of children for ransom and directed severe punishment for such offenders.

The boy, Amit Kumar, student of class III, was kidnapped from Panipat in Haryana on May 29, 1996. Kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh and threatened to kill the child in the event their demand was not met or the matter was reported to the police. The boy was later on taken to Saharanpur.

The trial court sentenced appellant Vinod and his accomplices to life imprisonment for the offence under section 364A IPC (kidnapping for ransom).

The Punjab and Haryana High Court later confirmed the sentence.

A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and P Sathasivam in its judgement pronounced yesterday, noted, ''Considering the alarming rise in kidnapping young children for ransom, the legislature has in its wisdom provided for stringent sentence.

''Therefore, the High Court rightly refused to interfere in the matter.

''The impugned judgement of the High Court does not suffer from any infirmity to warrant interference.

''The appeal fails and is dismissed,'' the bench noted.

The police did not produce the money recovered from the accused before the court during trial.

Other accused are Vikas, Vishavpal, Pawan Kumar, Vidyasagar, Sunderpal, Vinod, Sohan and Jagbir.

During the arguments , the counsel for state of Haryana had pleaded that no leniency be shown to the appellant as kidnapping in several parts of the country has become an industry and the offenders involved in these crimes must be given exemplary punishment.

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