There are some scenarios in life that are simply too heartbreaking to even imagine. If I let the thought cross my mind that I’ll one day lose my loved ones, I can quickly start to spiral. But sadly, many people are experiencing and living through nightmares every single day.

Survivors of kidnappings have been sharing their stories online, so we’ve gathered some of their most heart wrenching accounts below. It’s a relief that these individuals lived to tell their tales, but no one should have to experience what they went through in the first place. We’ll warn you right now that these stories might be difficult to read, but if you can make it through, be sure to upvote the ones you find most powerful.

#1

So, it was on 17-08-2014 near Qutub Minar, Delhi. I was new to the place, just 45 days on my first job. I had a huge luggage full of clothes and stuff that I bought on my trip to Nainital, and I was on my way to a concert at Blue frog, Mehrauli. By 8.30 I was at the bus stop, waiting for an auto and a Maruti eeco van came, which looks exactly like a shared taxi which is common in Delhi. I got in after asking if they'll go to the place.

There where 3 people in it, 2 in the front and one in the back, all looked like villagers and 20-25 in age. After few minutes when the van reached empty roads, one guy from front came to back seat and I was in between two guys. Suddenly they started to hit me on my face and they snatched all my stuff- bag, phone, purse with ATM cards. They asked for 25000 rupees and I told them I'll give whatever I have if they let me go. I told them to take me to a nearby ATM and I will give them all the money that I have, but they kept on riding along empty roads. Whenever the road got crowded they tried to hold my neck and once even bit my cheek in order to keep me silent and to avoid attracting attention. After a while they entered a deserted road into a wild place and I was almost sure that they would stop there and do something worse to me, but somehow that path lead to an open road. By that time I was sitting quietly because there was no point in making noise and getting beaten up. Fighting back was also out of question when the road is empty, because they were 3 people around me.

Around half an hour after I got into the van I could see the van reaching a market where I saw two policemen standing near the road. Somehow I felt that it was my last chance to escape and in a flash I remember pulling the van's handbrake. I kicked on the van's side window with both my feet to break the window before jumping out onto the road and landing on my shoulders and head on the road. The van was still moving pretty fast I think. Next thing I remember is that I was sitting on a chair at the police station where they asked me to write whatever happened. I did it and they took me to AIIMS trauma care Delhi for medical check-up. Luckily I only had minor injuries and returned home by 4AM with my friend.

This is the first part of the story. I was lucky like they did not have any weapons with them, The van had safety glass on the side and somehow i could see those two police men outside!!

On the very next day to my surprise I got a call from police saying they were caught and they wanted me to go and identify them. I went there, saw the van and 2 of them were in the lock-up. All of my friends were telling me, there is no chance of catching them but in less than a day the police got those guys.

I wish I could get my phone and bag back though!

Also, do take care when you are roaming around alone. Do not to get in closed vehicles or vehicles which can end up as a trap and try not to travel alone to such risky areas.

Image credits: Arun Muraleedharan

#2

When I was in my early 20s in St. Louis, I lived with my boyfriend. We both worked at a large government agency.

We had a large group of friends who would all party together.

At one particular party, there were a lot more guys than women. The guys were all playing football, air hockey, and some other games while drinking excessively.

I have never been a huge drinker so I wasn’t drinking. I was just hanging out in the kitchen looking at magazines because I found the party to be boring with mostly men playing games.

At one point, a guy I had seen around town but didn’t really know walked into the kitchen and started chatting with me.

He said, “Your boyfriend seems to be ignoring you.” I told him my boyfriend was really into competition and loved playing in the Foosball competitions.

Then he walked over to me and unexpectedly grabbed me. He picked me up and started walking out the back door. I was kicking and punching him while struggling to get away.

Another woman walked into the kitchen at that minute, and I screamed for her to help me. I was frightened but in shock since I did not see it coming.

The guy, whose name I didn’t even know, laughed and told her, “it’s OK, we’re just playing. She’s fine.”

The woman ran into the Foosball room, grabbed my boyfriend, and told him some guy just carried me out of the house.

My boyfriend ran out of the house after us and caught up to us as the man was pushing me into his car. I was still fighting and kicking, but he told me if I didn’t shut up, he was going to make me. I was frightened out of my mind.

Just as my boyfriend got to the car, he changed his entire demeanor and said, “Hey man, you were ignoring her, so I was going to take her to get something to eat.”

So untrue. My boyfriend quickly analyzed the situation, grabbed my hand and told the guy “hey, I’ll take care of her from here.”

The guy got in his car and drove off. I burst into tears.

We went back into the house and called the police. After talking to them on the phone, they said no crime had been committed, and that was it.

I have no idea what could have happened to me. Maybe nothing, maybe something very bad.

After that incident, I was always on guard at parties. Actually, I became hypersensitive to my surroundings after that.

From that point on I was always looking to see where the exits were. I always had money and change tucked into a pocket if I had to escape.

To this day I still keep money in my pocket, but I always have my phone with me. I have a tracker on it in case I disappear my family can track me. I also have a panic button on my home alarm system and cameras that back up to my cloud.

Yes, I am paranoid. Better safe than sorry.

When I hear about women at bars or parties getting drugged and assaulted, I realize how lucky I was that I had not been drinking and had my wits about me so many years ago. I was also lucky that other woman saw the situation and helped me.

I also understand after my incident how serial killers grab women, children, and weaker victims right out of public view.

It’s the element of surprise and not being 100% aware of your surroundings that can put you in the worst danger.

Please stay safe everyone.-

Image credits: Karen Marie Shelton

#3

For me it was quite a few things: The threatening to hit me with a huge branch, grabbing me and tossing me into his car and just the whole unknown of it all. Unknown grown man, unknown car (other than description), nobody around to hear or see what was going on or hear me loudly crying. The complete helplessness that way too.

I was 7. Im 31 now and i still remember exactly what he looks like to this day, his face pops up in dreams and nightmares sometimes. Police never caught him so i dont get to have any solid answers.

However, I have a strong feeling and suspicion that the man was going to sell me for money into human trafficking. Something very strong came over him though, and seemed to very suddenly change his mind in the moments before he reached over me, opened the door, and told me to get out. I believe the universe had something to do with that, given my purpose in life.

Image credits: Maddy Gerber

#4

“There are no winners when it comes to parental abduction. Everyone loses, especially the children. I was abducted by my father when I was 4 years old, and was missing for 14 years. I lived those years on the run, in hiding, and in fear. We lived on Greyhound buses and traveled through 3 countries and 34 states, all to run away from a mother who loved me. I had to dress like a boy, dye my hair different colors, beg for money and food, change my name and identity many times. I didn’t go to school much, or live in one place for very long, and was exposed to inappropriate and dangerous situations. It was a life of fear and homelessness.

As a very young child, I believed that my father did what he did because he loved me. He told me that the reason my mother wasn’t with us was because she didn’t care about me and was a bad person. Since I was so young, I quickly began to forget her face, her voice, everything. She soon became a faceless stranger who wanted to take me away from all that had become familiar. I helped my father hide me, and saw him as my hero. I, like most children, preferred the familiar to the unfamiliar, even if the familiar was abusive and awful.

It was only as I grew older that I began to see things differently. From things that my father said and did, I began to realize that his reasons for abducting me had nothing to do with my well–being. An aunt of mine, my father’s sister, told me that she thought my father was wrong to do what he did. She told me that my mom was a loving, responsible parent who wanted the best for me, and wanted me to have a good relationship with my dad, and that prior to the abduction I had spent nearly as much time with him as with her. My aunt said that my mother had come to her house crying, begging her to just let her know if I was alive and okay. This really touched me.

Another thing that made me rethink the abduction was that my father has abducted other children before, two of his three sons–my half-brothers–from his first marriage. (My mother was his second wife, and she didn’t know that he had abducted the boys. He was granted custody of them by a European court, using forged documents stating that their American mother didn’t want custody of them.) It seemed to be the way he dealt with his frustrations, and made me think that maybe what he did had less to do with protecting me than I was led to believe it did. As a teenager I nearly destroyed myself, both emotionally and physically. I felt betrayed by those who were supposed to love and protect me, and my world fell apart.

I managed to find my mother when I was nearly 18. It was a difficult reunion, since part of me desperately wanted to hang on to the belief that what my father did was justified. It was almost too painful to believe otherwise. But I wanted the truth. I called my mother before my 18th birthday, and we met shortly after. The pain didn’t end with my meeting my mom, a wonderful person. (I tried hard to find the fatal flaws that would have justified my father’s actions but they aren’t there. She’s wonderful.) I had to figure out who I was, where I came from, and where I was going. It took many years to reestablish a relationship with my mother, come to terms with my past, and learn to trust myself, others, and my perceptions of the world.

Image credits: Terra Matris

#5

I was kidnapped 8 years ago and it changed me forever. It's an experience you wouldn't want to wish on your worst enemy. Thankfully I wasnt harmed physically, so I cant imagine what the experience is like for Janet's friend and others like her.

I was out with my mom running some errands and we returned home at night around 9 pm. In our part of the world its common to have a guard (ours was unarmed) because robberies are common, kidnappings aren't. The gate was opened by a stranger wearing a guards uniform - later we found out it was one of the kidnappers who had beaten up the guard and was wearing his uniform. There were 3 others and we found them in the house pointing a gun at my dads head - his hands were tied and I can never forget the look on his face and his body language (total helplessness).

The 4 home invaders/robbers (at that point we didnt know this was a kidnapping) stayed at our place for the next 8 hours, ransacking the place and grabbing anything that caught their attention (for example they took gold cufflinks). They were heavily armed and had 1 AK47 and a couple of pistols. They also had some kind of drug in a vial and a syringe which they said they were going to use on me if I didnt cooperate (thats what they used on our guard after beating him up).

At the end, closer to day break they let us know that they didnt find enough in the house and were going to take me with them for ransom. They let me change and I said one of the most painful goodbyes to my parents - basically we were prepared to not see each other in this world ever again.

The kidnappers got in one of the cars (the one without GPS tracking) and drove about 3-4 hours. They made me promise to close my eyes otherwise they would drug me. We got to a "safe house" in a rural area at the end of the journey were they had more weapons and food etc. Here they separated into 2 groups with 2 of them taking me on a motorbike while the rest took our car.

This was the start of a very dangerous part of the journey... I was sandwiched between the 2 guys, the guy behind me had the AK47 between us... definitely a very blunt/hard implied threat. Shortly after we took off from the safe house, they got very tense, saying that a group of rivals was on the way to kill them. We basically sped through roads, markets and other areas which added to the stress. At different points we had to take refuge in fruit orchards and fields to "evade" this group coming after them.

By evening we got to another safe house in a rural area. I could see villagers and other people around and it became evident that they knew what was going on and that they wouldn't help. They were either afraid of these guys or were in on the take.

The other 2 who took our car came back by evening, also a bit shaken up. They had encountered the police and our car had been banged up a bit because it had fallen into a canal. I'm a Muslim and have strong faith, so I had been praying and reciting the Quran which seemed to unsettle them a bit. I had also talked to my parents once and they let me know that they'd asked someone to pray at the Holy Mosque in Mecca and Medina. I also let them know about this. All of this info (the people following us on the bike, the car accident and the praying) definitely got to them and I think they made a decision to get a ransom ASAP and let me go. They were a superstitious bunch and at some level were trying to justify what they were doing in a rational way.

They also admitted they knew the local police and had been arrested before. They had paid them off and escaped more than once and the AK47 was a police issue. They also were a professional bunch and had killed and kidnapped many people before in other cities.

I got to spend the night with them but the next morning they had arranged to meet my dad for the ransom. They drove with me to the pick up point and let me go.

Image credits: Anonymous

#6

A friend was kidnapped by three strangers from a grocery store parking lot and put into her own car trunk. They drove her to a remote location about 150 miles away where they had lots of survival equipment. They [SAed] and beat her for four days, and told her they were going to kill her. They made her dig her own grave. She saw a man and a child canoeing in a river far below where she was handcuffed and sitting by a fire with two of the men. She ran & jumped off a very steep cliff to the river below knowing that she would likely die, but she survived. The man in the canoe was an off-duty police officer and another officer was in a boat behind him. They radioed for an ambulance and back-up and the men were apprehended, tried and convicted. They did 11 years and are now out of prison. My friend lives in a prison of her own, rarely leaving her apartment as she lives in fear that they will come after her if they can find her. She lives under a semi-assumed name and had her parents and sister put her apartment and utilities in their name. She will never be a whole person again. They took something away from her that simply cannot be made right.

Image credits: Janet Johnson

#7

I was in Nairobi visiting family. Went out for a drink, ended up being held hostage by 3 very unsavory characters who proceeded to strangle me and then beat the shit out of me. After they’d put the fear of God into me they proceeded to rob me blind. Forced me to hand over the pins to my atm cards. By a coincidence, I was carrying all my cards with me that night (moral of the story, never go out with all your cards). Once in a while they would proceed to beat the shit out of me probably just to keep me in fear.

When all this was happening I remembered something a woman had once told me many years ago. In 1994 she was in Kigali, Rwanda when the Rwandan genocide happened. She wasn’t a target because she was a Kenyan so she and her family managed to get out of the country when foreigners were being evacuated. In the evacuation they had to be escorted through groups of Hutu militia armed with all sorts of crude weapons hunting for Tutsi’s. She told me, ‘If a mountain gorilla charges you, you don’t run. You get down on your knees and bow your head and show deference to him. Same thing when you're in a conflict situation. Do not show soldiers or militia any hint of anger or defiance or contempt. Avoid eye contact at all costs, keep your head bowed and your mouth shut. They are hyped up on testosterone and the killing fever, any hint of defiance or aggression can get you killed.”

So that’s what I did. I showed deference, kept my head low, avoided eye contact as much as possible. I didn’t want them to see me as a threat. As long as they felt they had subdued me they didn’t beat me up. Eventually after robbing me blind and forcing me to borrow money from my friends they bundled me into my car and dropped me off into the middle of nowhere.

So here’s my advice if you ever get yourself kidnapped:

1. Cooperate with them. Give them what they want. If it’s money, give them. As long as you’re alive you will make more money. Money means nothing to you when your dead.
2. Don’t fight back until you have an opportunity to do so. Don’t show anger, defiance, contempt, this is the real world not a hollywood movie. You’ll get yourself beaten up or killed
3. Find a way to connect to them. One of my kidnappers laid off me after he found out I’d taken my mum to hospital the previous day. I think I’m probably alive because of him, who know’s.

Image credits: James Mbuthia

#8

My friend’s mother used to open a local store at 6 am. One morning a car pulled in and 2 black guys shoved her into the back seat of their car and drove a few miles away to the Airline Motor Motel. When one of them opened the back door to the car, she shot him with the pistol she had in her purse. She said “he went, ‘ugh’ and pitched forward. She said the other man ran away. When the Cops came, called by the motel concierge, they wiped her gun off, gave it back to her and said, ”Good job”. She was terrified by the experience until she [took out] the guy.

Image credits: JN Dauterive

#9

I was kidnapped when I was 7 by a stranger. He let me go after 5-10 minutes of driving, but it has affected and scarred me for life. Therapy has been helping, I'm okay to talk about it.

Image credits: Maddy Gerber

#10

I went to a taxi rank at a train station when the train was delayed. The taxi was marked properly, but after the driver started driving I noticed the meter was broken and he was quite frankly nuts. After hearing avout people being made to disappear, after failing to attract attention from a man who shouted at him for gaving a broken tail light, the Angels literally stepped in. All of a sudden he asked if I wanted to stop for something at a garage. Yes! I eventually succeed in getting one member of staff to call the police because my mobile wasn't working. By the time he folliwed me in and claimed I was a fare dodger the police were on the way. He then told them I was his wife, and they nearly believed him! They checked me out as a potential nutter by looking in my eyes and asking questions. Then they tried to make me go home on public transport. When I refused as it was quite a traumatic event, an officer grumbled and took me home. No statement was officially taken. A couple of weeks later I called the police to see what was happening with him, I was told to "mind your own bloody business!". That was in the southeast of England. No doubt other police staff would have been better behaved.

Image credits: Mandy Worrall

#11

One of my relative’s kid was kidnapped a few years ago in India, and she was only 4 years old when she was kidnapped.

My relatives are a little well off and they have a couple of drivers at home for the ladies to go out shop or drive their kids to school. When these ladies go out they chat and gossip a lot other people and some sensitive financial information without even caring about who is around them.(Came to know about this from police in news paper) This one driver overheard a lot of this and carefully planned to kidnap this kid for ransom.

Every day this driver is used to drop off this 4 year old kid at the school, but this day he did not return home after the drop off. Late evening the parents realized that something was amiss, so, they started looking for the driver and the kid, they were no where to find. Police were informed about it on the very day, they found out that the kid never came to school that day.

The kidnapper had a head start of at-least 6 hours, he drove the girl to a safe place and then called the parents for ransom the same night. He called for ransom from a few different places using a couple of different pay phones over the next few days. All of this episode was ran in the news paper over the next few days. So, people who read news are aware of who this little girl and kidnapper were.

This guy was so busy(he was working alone), he did not realized that he was in news all over. Some one who saw the kidnapper on the street tipped off his location to the police. The police waited for him to go out of the hotel room again before nabbing him. He did go out and got arrested. The kid was unharmed and whole episode has ended in a happy note.

After this whole episode, a couple of months later, this family was performing a ceremony at their place and we were invited. I was curious to find out how the girl was doing. On the day of the ceremony I was hoping to see the kid all depressed and traumatized, but to my surprise, she was energetic and happy like always as if nothing ever happened to her. She was in-fact enjoying all the attention she was getting.

When inquired I found out that the driver took very good care of her when she was kidnapped, she did not even knew that she was kidnapped. The kid and driver are so much used to each other that she did not have any problem living with him for a few days. She was kept in very nice hotels and with all nice food. He even convinced her saying that he is taking her to her parents place and they are in a different city.

Today after several years I don't think she remembers anything from that episode, her parents might have wanted it to be that way. By gods grace she is all good now.

Image credits: Sai Pabbathi

#12

It happened with me almost 6 yrs back. My friend and I were sitting at a park in evening at around 6 pm on a cold November evening. The park was centrally located and had company quarters on all sides. Suddenly 3 men came in the park and surrounded us. They demanded an answer from us as to why a girl and boy were sitting in a park this late. After that they clicked a photo of us and said that they would put it up in the newspaper the next day as they claimed that 2 belonged to the press and 1 of them was in the police force. 2 men caught my friend and took him to the other side and one man held me by his hands and said that if I kissed him on his lips he would let us go. I denied. He held my hand now and twisted it. He again came close to me and I moved backwards. But then suddenly that man lost his balance due to the stone in the park. Or the man was so driven by lust that he didn't see the stone and fell on the ground. I saw this as a chance to flee. I ran as fast as I could and knocked on the door of one of the houses nearby. I was about to tell the residents what happened when suddenly my friend followed me there. They left him as they were unsuccessful in their plan. Those 40 minutes of captivity and the feeling that I could have been [SAed] shook me. Till date I am afraid to go out with a guy all alone. And parks or gardens are still a big no no for me. I haven't seen those men again. But my friend inquired and learnt that those men neither were police nor press. PS: I was just 16 back then and I am an Indian from a small town.

Image credits: Anonymous

#13

I was walking to school alone at night and this guy pulled up next to me and tried grabbing my arm through his window, telling me to get in the car. He tried getting out of his car, and stuck his leg out. I body slammed the door so hard that I heard the crunch that was his leg breaking. He screamed, and I hit him square in the nose with the vitamin water I had in my hand. I sprinted all the way back to the school. When the officer talked with me, she said I did an amazing job.

Image credits: Kenneth McLaughlin

#14

My elder sister was kidnapped once. She had an exam to take in the university. It was a bright sunny day when she left the house without her belongings to quickly go to a pharmacy shop, get some medicines and leave for the university. As she was returning from the shop, a white ambassador car with it’s jet black windows started walking parallel to her left side. One of the windows on her side opened and asked her if she studies in “abc” college. Just when she stopped for a sec, the door opened and they pulled her in. She screamed but before she realized the doors were closed. The struggle went in vain as she realized that the arms grabbing her are stronger than her. She found herself sitting in between two women wearing black burka dress. A lady with deep voice also wearing burka was seated next to the driver. The driver looked as creepy as a guy you wouldn’t like to see.

She asked them: what do you want?

Kidnappers: We just want some blood of yours. if you co-operate we will let you go.

As the car proceeded in the town and many of her known places went by she realized she can’t do anything now as she is surrounded by these heavy people in a moving car so she stopped struggling and sat coolly. After 10–15 mins both the kidnapper who were holding her wrists tightly started getting the confidence and naturally let their grip loosen up on her wrist. After half an hour they stopped the car and started waiting for someone. It’s when one of the kidnappers sitting next to her started feeling hot in those heavy black burka and she opened the door.

As she opened the door, my sister looked at the free life outside again without black shades. The kidnapper didn’t realize that she had left the door opened for her fellas to breath some air and since the grip by another kidnapper was too loose to hold my sister she jumped out of the car and pushed the kidnapper standing outside . The kidnapper fell down and my sister started running. She took the most crowded path to reach home and finally she was home with bleeding wrists.

This narrow escape changed the whole family as we became more cautious about her. She developed the fear of being kidnapped for many years after the incident.

Image credits: Anonymous

#15

I was fifteen, living in Madiera Beach, Fla. Walking down the Main Street about one in the afternoon on a Saturday, I heard a loud screech of tires, looked back, and saw a pale man pushing an older woman back into a car. It screeched off. The guy ran forward, hooked my arm in a tight grip and said, "You're beautiful. My mother called you a whore. That's why I slapped her." His name was Ronny and he kept me captive for the next eight hours. He'd gotten out of Raiford, a penitentiary, one day ago. He never sexually assaulted me. He was longing for something...we went to a restaurant and ate pie. Sat on the beach and watched the waves roll in. Smelled the wet sea air of the Gulf. We talked. He was rather sweet.
About nine that night I said, "Ronny, I gotta get home to my Mama." He kissed me on the forehead and wished me "Sweet Dreams." I walked home, the first time I'd felt free in hours. I never told my mother what happened.
The next day on the newscast there was a sketch of an armed robber who'd held up a store in Central Florida, near Brooksville. It was Ron.

Image credits: Jennifer Pell

#16

A little girl got kiddnapped after the end of the school. The kidnappers told her that they knew her father and they were here to pick her up. The innocent girl believed them and went along. The kidnappers seemed to be friendly although they weren't. The girl was being taken to a remote place in the same town. They had a conversation during the journey (trying to get more information from her). The girl doubted the kidnappers from their words and came up with a great idea! She cooked up a story saying ,"Do you know my uncle? He is a brave police, isn't he? He just caught two thieves!" The kidnappers started biting their nails believing the story. Out to fear, they left the girl to the place she was picked up from and went away! The girl later discovered that her father hadn't sent anyone and all were worried about her. The girl's suspicion was true. Though she was very nervous and afraid, her presence of mind saved her.

P.S. That little girl is my mother.

Image credits: Garvit Jain

#17

It was the mid 90s and my father was posted in Patna, the capital city of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihar at that time was being administered( barely) by an infamous politician named Lalu Prasad Yadav. Law and order was a joke and kidnapping people for ransom was a million dollar industry in Bihar.

At that time I was a little more than two years old. I was always a very amiable kid. I rarely cried or threw a tantrum and would happily go into the arms of complete strangers without making any fuss. Being a fair and chubby little kid I was the darling of my apartment complex. The aunties adored me, who would take me up in their arms and cuddled my cheeks to their hearts content. Being the no fuss kid I took all of this in my stride. I was famous not just among the aunties of our complex but also among the shopkeepers from whom my parents bought the grocery. Apparently I had no qualms going into their arms as well.

So one fine day, just like any other day my father took me with him to buy some vegetables at the market. As he was busy shopping I left his side. I saw a swanky car and started walking towards it without any fear in the world. Stories of child kidnappers did the rounds but I was too young and innocent to be afraid because of them. As the car moved off I too moved further away from my father who was completely oblivious of the fact that I had left his side. Being very fair, chubby and all by myself I attracted the attention of two young men. They must have thought I was from a well to do family and they could get a handsome ransom. They came over, asked a few things that I don't completely remember and then one of them held my hand and walked with me to a nearby cycle rickshaw stand. There the two of us boarded a rickshaw and off we went to God knows where.

Meanwhile my father realised that I had left his side and was nowhere to be seen. He panicked and feared for the worst. The shopkeeper who knew me and my father, instructed his five sons to spread out and go look for me. One of the sons soon tracked down the rickshaw on which I was with my kidnapper. He stopped the rickshaw and asked the young man accompanying me who I was. He lied that I was his little brother. However, knowing fully well who I really was, he slapped the fellow and grabbed me away. The young man ran and managed to escape while I now held the hand of my rescuer and was safely returned to my father.

My father broke down on seeing me safe and sound and thanked the shopkeeper and his sons profusely for finding his son.

Well, in the midst of all this I was pretty chilled and being so young was unable to realise the gravity of the situation. I could have been easily trafficked or held hostage for a ransom and later murdered. If not for the shopkeeper and his sons I might have been dead by now or would have been working for some gang or toiling away in some factory. Forget about being able to read and write, forget about writing answers on Quora. I am truly indebted to these people for being who I am today.

After the incident my father's boss recommended him to get himself transferred out of the city as it was very likely that the man was working for some gang. Being unsuccessful they could attempt to kidnap me again and it is highly unlikely they would fail a second time. So my father applied for a transfer which he was granted and soon we were out of Patna.

This incident might not be very juicy involving ransom calls and police raids but I can guarantee you it was no less scary for my parents. However, I am pretty sure I might be the most cooperative abductee ever and the dumbest one too. It was almost like I offered myself to the kidnappers on a silver platter and begged for them to abduct me. Whatever the matter be, I am glad I am alive and well today.

Image credits: Sayandeep Gupta

#18

I was 11 and a bunch of guys kidnapped me seeking political favors from my dad who, at the time, was a MP in Uttar Pradesh.

My dad, being an important person in UP, ensured our family members were always protected. Being a born foodie, my friend Manu and I used to skip out of our school compound to eat chats by the streets. Like any normal day, we go outside and see that there is a new pani puri stall by the bus stop. We were obviously gonna give the new guy a shot. So we decide to share one round of pani puris and approach the guy. He's pretty sweet and talkative- which I find unusual since most chat walle bhaiyyas are always pissed off running small stalls in the sun and traffic noise and people sheepishly asking for that extra puri all day. We start eating and the bhaiyya seems to notice blazing sun and suggests we go sit in the auto rickshaw standing by, which he claimed to own. It indeed was sunny and autorickshaw seemed like a good idea. So we carry the full pre-prepared pani puri plate (which is unusual considering pani puris are served one by one- but they were delicious and we were hungry) and sit in the auto rickshaw.

Seconds later, a decent looking guy comes on the side Manu was sitting and asks for directions to our school. Manu, super excited that for the first time in his life, he is able to answer an address query, hands me the plate and starts drawing lines in the air leading to our school. Almost instantly, I feel someone pulling with with extreme might and throwing me inside of a minivan they got out of-- all of which felt like a dream and took me minutes to realize what the hell was actually happening. I try to scream, but too shocked to have sound come out of my throat. While all I did was open my mouth and try to scream, I realized I was in deep shit. And my head hurt. For god knows why.

They immediately blindfolded me and tied my mouth shut. And one of them said "If you move, you're dead". I believed them. I think I was desperate for some kind of news that I am not going to be killed. Not moving in exchange of my life seemed like a pretty neat deal. And the fact that one guy was holding my right arm so tight I felt it go numb went to show these people meant business.

I'm leaving out the non-important part of what happened next since the question is about what being kidnapped feels like. But long story short- they ask for a political favor from my dad in exchange for my life and days later they release me on an empty far-away street and call my home and give 4 different locations of where they might have left me- just to be safe themselves. I am found eventually and taken home.

Image credits: Anonymous

#19

I was kidnapped and SA'd when I was 8, and fortunately was set free the same day. It's rare these days it seems that children who are kidnapped return home. I only know who I am now and have no idea who I would be otherwise but I definitely struggle with some anxiety and expect bad things to happen purely because they have happened. I suppose I suffer some form of PTSD but it's never been diagnosed. I can't imagine anyone could go through that without long lasting effects.

With that said people are more resilient than they think. Most who know me today would never guess that is my story. I'm successful and appear very confident to others.

Although I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone else it shaped who I am today and I'm able to help others because of my experience.

Image credits: Raine Leigh

#20

I'm still going through the situation. Ever since I was three years old, my mom and dad didn't get along. After they divorced, custody was given to my mom, who tried her best, but kept making the same mistakes (Abusive boyfriends, Smoking, Drinking, etc.). Eventually, my mom and I were more like friends than mother and daughter. Ten years after their divorce, my mom has taken me across the country on a trip that turned into a living situation. My dad didn't feel very comfortable with that, so he told my mom that “He was heading out of country, and wanted to be with me for the last two weeks.” My mom agreed. She believes that I need to see my dad to maintain a decent relationship with him. He paid for the plane flight there, but the second day out here, he told me that I was never going back. I've been here since October and I hate it here. My dad has a stable life, unlike my mom, he has a wife and two sons, also unlike my mom, so it's really weird having to deal with siblings that you've never had to deal with before.

Image credits: Alicia Crain

#21

I was not kidnapped but it was very close.
My uncle and father had a bakery which was leased out to X. Since we had to sell the place my uncle vacated him (legally settling all the dues). After some years, unfortunately my uncle and Mr. X passed away. Mr. X's son was studying college and after graduation he wanted to start a bakery! He contacted my father for starting one but my father was unwilling and sent him off. To get even with my father, he started threatening me and my father for ransom, sine he felt Mr. X was cheated.
He sent threatening messages to me and my father for about 2 months. We ignored these messages. Later these messages became intense and once I got a message to "watch out on Aug. 31st". Did not heed much to the message then. On Sep. 1st early morning our watchman came running to our house frantically to warn me against unknown persons. Apparently, few of them had come in a Tata Sumo Van with registration # xxx. They asked for my name. However, watchman felt suspicious and asked them to call my number and get my permission. They tried to threaten the watchman but since other watchmen came to the scene, these thugs ran away.
Subsequent events shocked me. Same day I went to the police commissioner's office to lodge a complaint. I submitted the culprit's name, number and all the messages (about 300 messages in a month) sent by him. But the police were looking for the word "life" or "kill"! Unfortunately, he has used all the words except these. For example, the message will read as "Be careful or else..." Hence the police refused to register a FIR. After several visits I was asked to go another police station to register. Even there the police refused to register but they called the culprit and warned against such messages or missed calls. But no action was taken against perpetrators.

#22

Like drowning, You never know what to do, whether to try to get out or just cooperate.

After a week I lost about 10 lbs just from stress despite being fed. I finally got saved, but I felt like I was still there for a long time, and I still feel like it can happen anytime.

Image credits: Anonymous

#23

I was held in a room by a guy and wasn't allowed to leave. He threatened to kill me or to at least inflict a lot of pain on me. It wasn't a the kind of kidnapping situation I assume you are thinking of (i.e. the guy didn't plan on kidnapping me and taking me away somewhere and potentially holding me hostage). The kidnapping I experienced is more of the kind that conforms to a legal definition of kidnapping (confining someone to a space and not letting them go) but it was still scary as hell. The guy who kidnapped me was psychotic (he made a creepy statement before he was about to kill me that "He could have protected me", which was his eery way of suggesting that things were going to turn out the other way i.e. he was going to kill me ), hung over (making him more likely to snap. He was an alcoholic rager) an expert in martial arts with weapons in his home (including a sword that he showed me) pissed off at me (because he caught me in a white lie) The situation became so intense that I got on the floor of his kitchen in the foetal position and started praying (not to him, just to God or whatever). I was convinced that if I put up any sort of fight he would have killed me instantly, so by basically making myself more vulnerable I think it might have confused him a bit. He started yelling at me, "You don't look f*****g humble." I don't remember much of what happened after that, except that I was suddenly running out the back door of his house (without my shoes on), past his killer dogs, and then jumping over his back fence (waiting for a ninja star to penetrate my back) and landing in the backyard party of an Italian family screaming for help. I then ran down the road to the police who didn't give a s**t about what I told them. It was a very intense experience. Eleven years later, it still haunts me. I was only held captive for about 30 minutes

Image credits: Anonymous