Section 13A: Child trafficking

13A. Child trafficking (1) Any person who wilfully and unlawfully recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives a child for the purpose of exploitation shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 30 years. (2) Any person who wilfully and unlawfully recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives a child— (a) outside Mauritius for the purpose of exploitation in Mauritius; (b) in Mauritius for the purpose of exploitation outside Mauritius, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 30 years. (3) Any person who, in any place outside Mauritius, does an act preparatory to, or in furtherance of, the commission of an offence under subsection (1), shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 30 years. (4) (a) Any person who takes part in any transaction the object or one of the objects of which is to transfer or confer, wholly or partly, temporarily or permanently, the possession, custody or control of a child in return for any valuable consideration shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 30 years. [Issue 2] C13 – 12 Revised Laws of Mauritius (b) Any person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, harbours or has in his possession, custody or control of any child in respect of whom the temporary or permanent possession, custody or control has been transferred or conferred for valuable consideration by any other person in or outside Mauritius, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 30 years. (5) (a) No press report of any Court proceedings relating to an offence under this section shall include any particulars calculated to lead to the identification of any child who is the victim of that offence, nor shall any photograph or picture be published in any newspaper or broadcast as being or including a photograph or picture of that child. (b) Any person who contravenes paragraph (a) shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable in respect of each offence to a fine not exceeding 200,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years. (6) Part X of the Criminal Procedure Act and the Probation of Offenders Act shall not apply to a person liable to be sentenced under this section. (7) Where the Court finds that a person who has parental responsibility and rights in respect of a minor has committed an offence under this section in relation to that minor, it may— (a) suspend the parental responsibilities and rights of that person; and (b) order the minor to be admitted to a place of safety, for such period as it thinks fit. (8) In this section, “exploitation” has the same meaning as in the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act. [S. 13A inserted by s. 3 of Act 34 of 2005 w.e.f. 17 December 2005; amended by s. 8 of Act 36 of 2008 w.e.f. 6 December 2008; s. 21 of Act 2 of 2009 w.e.f. 30 July 2009.]