What does «raptar» mean in Spanish?
- In the historical sense of the word, to take a woman violently or by deception from the house and power of her parents or relatives. In the past, women were often abducted by force or by deception; in these cases Roman law imposed the death penalty on the abductor. Meanwhile, medieval Castilian laws made the abductor a servant of the abducted woman or her family. Later, in the Partidas (a normative body written in the Crown of Castile, during the reign of Alfonso X, 1252-1284), the abductor was imposed the death penalty if the abduction ended in rape.
- To take a person violently, by force or deception, holding them against their will, in order to obtain something in return, usually for ransom or for sexual purposes.
Examples of use in Spanish: "la mujer fue raptada de su casa el martes de la semana pasada y, hasta el momento, no hubo comunicación por parte de los secuestradores".