Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter XVI: Of Offences Affecting the Human Body · Of Kidnapping, abduction, slavery and forced labour
Section 371: Habitual dealing in slaves
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024. It still applies to offences and proceedings from before that date.
Whoever habitually imports, exports, removes, buys, sells, traffics or deals in slaves, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here.