Section 13C: Abducting child

13C. Abducting child (1) Any person who, by force or fraud, without the consent of the legal custodian— (a) takes away or causes to be taken away a child; or (b) leads away, decoys, entices or causes to be led away, decoyed or enticed, a child out of the keeping of the custodian or from any place where the child has been placed or is with the consent of the custodian, shall commit the offence of abduction, and shall, on conviction, be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 25 years. (2) Any person who unduly fails to present a child to the person who has the right to claim the child shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 200,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. (3) In the case specified in subsection (1), where the abduction is committed without fraud or violence, the offender shall be liable to penal servitude for a term not exceeding 20 years. (4) Where an offender who has committed an offence under subsection (1) has civilly married the child whom he has so taken away, he shall not be prosecuted, except upon the complaint of the parties who have the right, under the Code Civil Mauricien, of suing for the nullity of such marriage, and he shall not be convicted until after the nullity of the marriage has been pronounced. (5) 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. [S. 13C 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.]