Torsion in beams arises generally from the action of shear loads whose points of application do not coincide with the shear centre of the beam section.
On several situations beams and slabs are subjected to torsion in addition to bending moment and shear force. Loads acting normal to the plane of bending will cause bending moment and shear force. However, loads away from the plane of bending will induce torsional moment along with bending moment and shear.