The Supreme Court held that the consent of a minor would be no defense to a charge of kidnapping referred to Sections 361 to 366 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 Into Legal World Thu, Jan 14, 2021, at ,03:26 PM The Apex Court has said that a minor girl's infatuation with her alleged kidnapper cannot by itself be allowed as a defense as it would amount to surreptitiously undermining the protective essence of the offense of kidnapping. The bench of Justice N V Ramana, S. Abdul Nazeer, and Surya Kant while disposing of an appeal filed by one Anversinh whose conviction under Sections 363 and 366 of the Indian Penal Code was upheld by the Gujarat High Court, said that it showed that consent of minor is immaterial for section 361 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which deals with the offense of kidnapping from lawful guardianship. It is apparent that instead of being a valid defense, the appellant's (man) vociferous arguments are merely a justification which although evokes our sympathy, but can't change the law. During the trial, the girl had initially claimed that she was forcibly taken, was raped, and pressurized into performing marriage with the man. Later, she admitted during cross-examination of being in love with the man. The Supreme Court held that "perusal of Section 361 of IPC shows that there must be an act of enticing or taking, in addition to establishing the child's minority (being sixteen for boys and eighteen for girls) and care/keep of a lawful guardian. Such 'enticement' need not be direct or immediate in time and can also be through subtle actions like winning over the affection of a minor girl. However, mere recovery of a missing minor from the custody of a stranger would not ipsofacto establish the offense of kidnapping. Thus, where the prosecution fails to prove that the incident of removal was committed by or at the instigation of the accused, it would be nearly impossible to bring the guilt home." The Supreme Court also added that "it bestows the ability to make crucial decisions regarding a minor's physical safety upon his/her guardians. Therefore, a minor girl's infatuation with her alleged kidnapper cannot by itself be allowed as a defense, for the same would amount to surreptitiously undermining the protective essence of the offense of kidnapping. Similarly, Section 366 of IPC postulates that once the prosecution leads evidence to show that the kidnapping was with the intention/knowledge to compel marriage of the girl or to force/induce her to have illicit intercourse, the enhanced punishment of 10 years as provided thereunder would stand attracted. The bench of justices, regarding the sentence, has noted that no force had been used in the act of kidnapping and there was no preplanning, use of any weapon, or any vulgar motive. Therefore, the offense defined under Section 359 and 361 of IPC has no ingredient necessitating any use of force or establishing any oblique intentions, nevertheless, the mildness of the crime ought to be taken into account at the stage of sentencing. The Court has also taken note of other factors and reduced the quantum of sentence to the period of imprisonment already undergone by the accused.