Men kidnapped for illicit sex, prostitution

Shemin Joy

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) It is not women alone who are
kidnapped in India for having sex.

Sixty-seven men were kidnapped in India last year for
having sex, which was an increase of about 40 percent from the
2006's figure of 38 men kidnapped for the same.

Cases of five men being kidnapped for prostitution were
also reported in the country during 2007 as against 35 in
2006.

What is more shocking is that eight ladies above the age
of 50 were among 2,586 women being kidnapped for sex,
according to the latest report prepared by the National Crime
Records Bureau (NCRB).

The 'Crime in India -- 2007' report shows that there was
a nominal decrease of 12 in the number of women who were
kidnapped for sex last year compared to 2,599 in 2006.
However, the number of women kidnapped for sex above 50 years
was only one.

Women in the age-group of 18 to 30 years were the most
vulnerable with 1,608 from the fairer sex becoming victims to
kidnapping for sex in 2007 as against 1,488 in 2006.

Cases of kidnapping for prostitution saw 422 women being
forced into sex trade along with five men.

As in the above case, women in the age-group of 18 to 30
years were the most vulnerable with 264 women becoming victims
to kidnapping for prostitution.

Interestingly, not a single case of kidnapping was
registered across the country for selling body or body parts
while only 17 cases of kidnapping for begging were reported.

The NCRB statistics also showed that 159 people,
including three women, were kidnapped for slavery while 209
men were kidnapped to force them into wedlock.

Interestingly, Bihar is the only big state where more men
are kidnapped than women. According to the report, 1268 men
were kidnapped from Bihar while figures for women were six
less than that.

Out of a total of 27,561 kidnapping cases, 12,856 were
related to marriage in which 12,874 people were abducted.

Marriage was the main cause of kidnapping and abduction
of women which accounted for 61.2 percent (12,655) of the
20,690 victims from the fairer sex while ransom was the main
cause of kidnapping of men representing 8.1 percent cases
(596 out of 7,340).

More than double number of females (20,690) were
kidnapped compared to men (7,340) accounting for 73.8 percent,
the NCRB report said.

The highest incidence of kidnapping was reported from
Uttar Pradesh which accounted for 16.2 percent (4,478 cases)
followed by Bihar (2,530).