The word “kidnapping” has been derived from the word ‘kid’ meaning child and ‘napping’ to steal. Thus the word literally means “child stealing”. However, under the Indian Penal Code it is not confined to child stealing. It has been given broader implication, i.e., carrying away of a human being against his/her consent, or the person accused removes the person from his/her lawful guardianship.

Criminal liability has been defined by lexicon dictionary as something wherein there are accountability and responsibility to another by the ways of legal criminal sanction.

To establish criminal liability it is necessary to understand elements of a crime. Crimes can be broken down into elements, which the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Criminal elements are set forth in criminal statutes or cases in jurisdictions that allow for common-law crimes.