
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Kidnapping or maiming a minor for purposes of begging.—
Section
363A
Punishment
Life Imprisonment or Imprisonment up to Ten Year(s) + Fine
Cognizable
Cognizable
Bailable
Non-bailable
Compoundable
Non-Compoundable (Refer to CrPC 320 for exceptions)
Trial Court
Court of Session
Bare Act Text
363A. Kidnapping or maiming a minor for purposes of begging.—
(1)Whoever kidnaps any minor or, not being the lawful guardian of a minor, obtains the custody of the minor, in order that such minor may be employed or used for the purpose of begging shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.(2)Whoever maims any minor in order that such minor may be employed or used for the purposes of begging shall be punishable with imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.(3)Where any person, not being the lawful guardian of a minor, employs or uses such minor for the purposes of begging, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that he kidnapped or otherwise obtained the custody of that minor in order that the minor might be employed or used for the purposes of begging.(4)In this section,—(a)‘begging’ means—(i)soliciting or receiving alms in a public place, whether under the pretence of singing, dancing, fortune-telling, performing tricks or selling articles or otherwise;(ii)entering on any private premises for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms;(iii)exposing or exhibiting, with the object of obtaining or extorting alms, any sore, wound, injury, deformity or disease, whether of himself or of any other person or of an animal;(iv)using a minor as an exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms;(b)‘minor’ means—(i)in the case of a male, a person under sixteen years of age; and(ii)in the case of a female, a person under eighteen years of age.

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Pramod Pal Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Pramod is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of StudyHub. He holds a Master's degree and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Geology, alongside more than 7+ years spent building and verifying competitive exam content for Indian aspirants. He leads StudyHub's editorial process across Indian Polity, the Constitution, Indian Economy, History, Geography, Science, and the platform's other subject areas — checking every article against primary sources (bare act text and Gazette notifications for constitutional topics, government and Economic Survey data for economy content, standard reference material elsewhere) and flagging it for re-verification whenever a relevant amendment, policy, or data update makes an earlier version outdated.






















