A kidnapping consists of depriving someone of their freedom unlawfully.
The Latin term sequestrum came into our language as kidnapping . The concept refers to the act and result of kidnapping : illegally depriving an individual of their freedom to demand something in exchange for their release; taking by force a means of transportation; judicially make the distribution of a product impossible; or seize property through judicial means.
The most common use of the concept is associated with the illegitimate deprivation of freedom suffered by a person. Whoever commits the kidnapping (called the kidnapper ) demands money or some benefit to free the victim (the kidnapped person ).
How a kidnapping develops
Frequently, the kidnapper contacts the kidnapped person's family by telephone to ask for money in exchange for the victim's release. It is extortion: if the family does not pay what the kidnapper asks, he will not release the kidnapped person or may even threaten to kill him.
Kidnapping can also have as its purpose the exploitation of the kidnapped person. There are criminal gangs that kidnap women to force them into prostitution, keeping the money generated by this activity. There are also groups that kidnap people to force them to work in clandestine textile workshops, to name one possibility.
According to rumors and legends, there are people who would have been victims of abduction by aliens.
Some considerations
Although there are various reasons why a person can be a victim of this type of kidnapping, it is common that the underlying reason is lack of money. Faced with necessity , human beings become more careless, we are less attentive to signs of danger, and it is then that criminals take advantage of our weakness to carry out the most ruthless acts.
There are many people who suddenly wake up in a foreign country, in which they cannot communicate since they do not know the language, and are forced to engage in prostitution or some other forced labor, without the possibility of seeing their families or families again. to ask anyone for help. The kidnapping affects the victim on several levels; The kidnapper manages to instill terror in her through well-calculated threats and humiliations, which wear her down and weaken her psychologically until she feels unable to escape the nightmare .
Dominating another living being is not a task that we all can or want to do, but it is something that almost all of us are vulnerable to, if the other person has enough skill and patience to find our weak points . A kidnapping entails a series of consequences of varying severity on our state of health, both mental and physical, and that is why it is usually necessary to go to one or more medical and psychological professionals to try to overcome it.
Fear of kidnapping
But kidnapping, as a concept, also affects thousands of people who have never experienced it and probably never will. This happens because of the impact that news about victims of this type of crime has on them: for different reasons, they come to think that they will be next on the list, that there is someone watching them, waiting for the right moment to deprive them of their freedom. .
The fear of kidnapping is a more common problem than many think, and it is important to treat it before it leads to a serious problem. The first general advice to overcome it is to talk about the issue with our loved ones, without feeling ashamed. Although it is not normal to become the target of a kidnapper, we must respect our fear and try to dispel it little by little; For example, there is nothing wrong with seeking company to go to certain places that cause us discomfort or lack of confidence.
Other uses of the concept
An individual, on the other hand, can hijack a plane and force the pilot to go to a different destination than the established one. That is the case of a man who boards a flight to Egypt but, displaying a firearm, forces the pilot to land in Kenya.
Lastly, security forces can decide to seize illegal merchandise: contraband products, drugs , etc.