A kidnapper cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment if the abducted person is not assaulted or threatened with murder and is treated well, the Supreme Court has said.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R. Subhash Reddy made the observation while setting aside the conviction of an auto driver in Telangana, Shaik Ahmed, who had kidnapped a 13-year-old and demanded a ransom of Rs 2 lakh from his father. The boy and the father had testified that Ahmed had never threatened to kill or harm the child.

The top court said there were three essential ingredients to convict an accused under IPC Section 364A (kidnapping for ransom), which needed to be proved by the prosecution. They are — kidnapping or abduction of any person or keeping him or her in detention; threatening to kill or hurt the person; or if the kidnapper’s conduct gives rise to a reasonable apprehension that the victim may be murdered or hurt in order to compel the government, a foreign state or any other person to pay a ransom.