Section 139 punishes kidnapping or obtaining custody of a child in order that the child be used for begging, punishes maiming a child for that purpose even more severely, creates a presumption against a non-guardian who uses a child for begging, and defines "begging" for the purposes of this section.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which maps Section 139 to old IPC Section 363A, and cross-checked directly against the bare text of both Acts.
| BNS item | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 139(1) | 363A(1) | Substantively changed |
| 139(2) | 363A(2) | Substantively changed |
| 139(3) | 363A(3) | Exact |
| 139(4) | 363A(4) | Substantively changed |
Sub-section (1): old IPC Section 363A(1) punished this offence with imprisonment of either description up to ten years (no minimum term prescribed). This section instead sets a mandatory minimum of rigorous imprisonment for ten years, extendable up to imprisonment for life. Sub-section (2): old IPC Section 363A(2) punished maiming a child for begging with imprisonment for life (no minimum term separately specified). This section instead sets a mandatory minimum of twenty years, extendable to imprisonment for life, and separately clarifies that "life" here means imprisonment for the remainder of the person's natural life. Sub-section (3)'s presumption is reproduced without change from old IPC Section 363A(3). Sub-section (4): the four-part definition of "begging" in clauses (i)-(iv) is reproduced without change from old IPC Section 363A(4)(a)(i)-(iv); however, old IPC Section 363A(4)(b) additionally defined "minor" for this section as a person under sixteen years of age if male, or under eighteen years of age if female. This section drops that separate, sex-differentiated definition and instead uses the term "child," which this project's own local copy of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita defines uniformly (Section 2(3)) as any person below eighteen years, regardless of sex.
(1) Whoever kidnaps any child or, not being the lawful guardian of such child, obtains the custody of the child, in order that such child may be employed or used for the purposes of begging shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.
(2) Whoever maims any child in order that such child may be employed or used for the purposes of begging shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall not be less than twenty years, but which may extend to life which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life, and with fine.
(3) Where any person, not being the lawful guardian of a child employs or uses such child for the purposes of begging, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that he kidnapped or otherwise obtained the custody of such child in order that such child might be employed or used for the purposes of begging.
(4) In this section "begging" means—
(i) soliciting or receiving alms in a public place, whether under the pretence of singing, dancing, fortune telling, performing tricks or selling articles or otherwise;
(ii) entering on any private premises for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms;
(iii) exposing or exhibiting, with the object of obtaining or extorting alms, any sore, wound, injury, deformity or disease, whether of himself or of any other person or of an animal;
(iv) using such child as an exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
This sub-section punishes kidnapping a child, or a non-guardian obtaining custody of a child, with the specific purpose that the child be employed or used for begging. The sentence carries a mandatory minimum of ten years' rigorous imprisonment.
This sub-section targets the particularly severe practice of deliberately maiming or injuring a child to make them more effective at soliciting alms, and carries a much higher mandatory minimum (twenty years) than sub-section (1), reflecting the additional gravity of physically harming the child.
This sub-section creates a rebuttable presumption: if a person who is not the child's lawful guardian is found employing or using the child for begging, the law presumes — unless the person proves otherwise — that they kidnapped or obtained custody of the child specifically for that purpose, easing the prosecution's evidentiary burden.
This sub-section defines "begging" broadly for the purposes of this section, covering soliciting alms in public, entering private premises to solicit alms, exhibiting an injury or deformity (of oneself, another person, or an animal) to obtain alms, and using a child as an exhibit to solicit alms.
Sub-section (1) requires only the intent or purpose that the child "may be" employed or used for begging — the offence is complete once the child is kidnapped or custody is obtained with that purpose, whether or not the child is ultimately made to beg.
It applies to any person, other than the child's lawful guardian, who is found employing or using the child for begging. It shifts the burden onto that person to prove they did not kidnap or obtain custody of the child for begging purposes.
Yes. Both sub-sections (1) and (2) prescribe a mandatory minimum term (ten years and twenty years respectively) — these are not maximum limits alone, but floors below which the sentence may not go.