Using a helpless child to extort money is the worst offence: Court

“Kidnapping a child is a serious crime. No sympathy can be shown to a person who in his capacity as a servant/ employee has abused and exploited the trust so reposed upon him by the employer. Using a small,helpless child as an instrument to extort money is the worst kind of offence,” held Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau.

Mohammad had kidnapped four-year-old Sanskar from near his Keshavpuram residence in Northwest Delhi on November 1,2005 — the Diwali day.

A day later,the boy’s father Pramod Goel received a call demanding Rs 1 lakh for Sanskar’s release. Goel,however,recognised the voice of his employee,Mohammad,and intimated the police. The call was traced to a public booth at Amroha in Uttar Pradesh.

The next day,Goel again received a call in which the caller directed him to bring the money at Masipi village near Kunderki. The police raided the PCO booth from where the call had been made and arrested Mohammad. The child was rescued from a house in Masipi.

“The main object of the concerned provisions of the Indian Penal Code is to provide children from being seduced for improper purposes and also protect the rights and privileges of the guardians having the lawful charge of custody of their minor wards,” ASJ Lau noted,throwing out Mohammad’s leniency plea.