With accusations of baby-snatching for international adoption abounding, this story out of India may give encourage a bit of perspective on the wider, and more accurate, picture of the reality.

It's the tale of a ten-day-old baby boy, snatched from his parents following a village panchayat order.

Unlike what is far too often assumed in the reflex reaction usually associated when the words baby-snatching make it to the printed page, international adoption has absolutely nothing to do with this case.

Unlike the likely situation in Guatemala written about yesterday, it's also not a case of random criminal activity.

This is a cultural issue where the parents of the child have been deemed too closely related, belonging to the same lineage.

Now, flat out kidnapping cases ... well, that's another kettle of fish altogether.

According to the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children (NISMART), about 1.35 million kids are lost by their caretakers every year in America.

The largest percentage of these kids, 628,900, are runaways and family abduction counts for 117,000.

In the case of stranger abductions, between 100 and 130 per year, half are for sexual purposes and almost half are murdered.

But, back to India for a moment ...

In the state of Bihar, there were 32,085 kidnapping cases reported between 1992 and 2004. There are so many kidnappings, in fact, that Time Magazine suggests that kidnapping for ransom has become Bihar's biggest industry.

In Tamil Nadu, children are reported to be being kidnapped in big numbers so people can collect aid money.

In Uttar Pradesh, kidnapping is considered almost part of the culture: "Kidnapping, extortion and ransom is considered a macho activity in tune the martial traditions of the ravines and rugged terrain across the expanse of the districts of Fatehgarh, Meerut, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, Mainpuri and Etah, some home to many of the states ministers and renowned political class."

There are reportedly 300,000 kidnapped children enslaved for work in the carpet trade.

All over the world, children are abducted, kidnappings occur, horrible people do terrible things.

At the same time, but under completely different circumstances, families adopt children. People in America and Europe, small island nations and other places go through complicated processes, opening their homes, their hearts and their wallets along the way, in efforts designed to add orphaned and abandoned children to their safe and loving families.

There have been cases of children being removed from relatives and made available for adoption, often by other relatives and for money.

There have been cases of parents burying newborns alive.

There have been cases of mothers coerced into relinquishing children they could have raised.

There have been cases of parents selling children into slavery or the sex trade.

There have been cases of adoptive and biological parents harming, even killing, children.

On rare occasions, someone who should not adopt does.

On rare occasions, someone who should not have been adopted is.

Under every circumstance, someone experienced terrible loss.

Although the world is full of evil people and bad things happen to good people, adoption is not evil.