Medico Legal Aspects of Injuries

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Medico Legal Aspects of Injuries

• Dr Vina Vaswani MD (Forensic Med Toxicology)
• M.Phil Hospital Health Systems Management
  (BITS, Pilani)
• MA (Erasmus Mundus Master Bioethics, Europe)
• Professor Head, Dept of Forensic Medicine
• Yenepoya Medical College, Deralakatte, Mangalore

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Forensic Medicine

• Welcome
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with one
  step
• Forensic derives from Forum

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Glad tidings from
Dept of Forensic Medicine Toxicology
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Objectives

• To get acquainted to the injury related
  medicolegal sections of the Indian Penal code and
  Criminal Penal Code
• To apply the above principles in contextualizing
  the cases

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The Plan

• Injury Sec 44 IPC
• Hurt Sec 319 IPC
• Simple Grievous Sec 320 IPC
• Assault Sec 351 IPC
• Battery
• Homicide Lawful, Unlawful

• Culpable Homicide sec 299IPC
• Murder Sec300 IPC
• Punishment for Murder Sec 302 IPC
• Attempt to murder 307 IPC
• Sec321,322,323,324, 325,326
• 304A IPC Rash and negligent act

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Some Definitions

• Injury(S 44 IPC) any Harm whatever illegally
  caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or
  property.
• Injury is an act contrary to law
• The term Illegal is applicable to everything
  which is an offence or, prohibited by law. It
  furnishes ground for legal action

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HURT

• Hurt (S 319 IPC) Who ever causes bodily pain,
  disease or infirmity to any person is said to
  cause hurt
• Act neither intended nor likely to cause death is
  hurt, even though death is caused. (Kicking,
  causing death in presence of splenomegaly)
• Many hurts can also be classed under assault.
  Hurt can also be caused by acts that are not
  assaults (lacing tea with poison)

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Assault

• Assault(S.351 IPC) Whoever makes any gesture, or
  any preparation intending or knowing it to be
  likely that such gesture or preparation will
  cause any person present to apprehend that he who
  makes that gesture or preparation is about to use
  criminal force to that person, is said to commit
  an assault.

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• Battery It is the assault brought to execution.
  It is the actual injury to a person
• Simple Hurt Which is neither extensive nor
  serious and heals without leaving a permanent
  scar.

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Aggravated forms of Hurt

• By dangerous weapons
• To extort property or to constrain to do illegal
  act
• By means of poison to commit offence
• To extort confession
• To deter public servant from his duty

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Grievous Hurt, 320 IPC

• 1. Emasculation Loss of Masculine Power.
• 2. Permanent Privation of sight of either eye
• (Like corneal scarring, retinal detachment)
• 3. Permanent Privation of hearing of either ear.
  (Permanent loss of hearing. TM rupture)

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Grievous Hurt

• 4. Privation of any member or any joint (Member
  is any organ or tissue capable of independent
  function)
• 5. Destruction or permanent impairing of power of
  any member or joint
• 6. Permanent disfiguration of Head or Face
• 7. Fracture Dislocation of Bone or tooth

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Grievous Hurt

• 8. Any Hurt which endangers life
• or
• which causes the sufferer to be during the
  space of 20 days in severe bodily pain,
• or
• unable to follow his ordinary pursuits.
• Any dangerous hurt is grievous. An act neither
  intended nor likely to cause death is hurt even
  though death is caused.

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Homicide, Culpable Homicide

• Causing death by Human Agency
• Lawful Excusable and Justifiable
• CH (s 299 IPC) Who ever causes death by doing an
  act with the intention of causing death, or with
  the intention of causing such bodily injury as is
  likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that
  he is likely by such an act to cause death,
  commits CH

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• Explanation 1 A person who causes death of
  another labouring under disorder, disease,
  infirmity which accelerates his death, is deemed
  to have caused his death.

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Culpable Homicide Contd

• Expl 2 Where death is caused by bodily injury
  the person who causes such bodily injury shall be
  deemed to have caused the death although death
  would have been prevented by skillful treatment.
• Expl 3 Causing the death of a child in the
  mothers womb is not homicide. It may amount to
  homicide to cause the death of a living child if
  any part of the child has been brought forth,
  though the child may not have breathed or
  completely born.

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Unlawful Homicide

• Culpable Homicide not amounting to Murder (S. 299
  IPC)
• Murder (S. 300 IPC)
• Rash and Negligent Homicide(304 A)
• Dowry Death (304 B)
• Suicide (305, 306)

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Culpable Homicide is Murder..

• CH is murder if the act by which the death is
  caused with the intention of causing death,
• or it is done with the intention of causing such
  bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely
  to cause death of the person
• or it is done with the intension of causing
  bodily injury inflicted is sufficient in the
  ordinary course of nature to cause death.
• That the person committing the act knows that it
  is so imminently dangerous that it must in all
  probabilities cause death, or such bodily injury
  as is likely to cause death, commits CH amounting
  to Murder

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CH is not Murder..

• Exception1 The offender while deprived of self
  control by grave sudden provocation, causes the
  death of another person who gave the provocation,
  more any other by mistake /accident provided the
  provocation is not voluntarily sought.
• 2. If the offender exercising good faith in right
  of private defense exceeds the powers given to
  him and causes the death of the person without
  premeditation.

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CH is not Murder.. Exceptions

• Ex 3 If the offender being public servant in
  advancing of public justice exceeds the powers
  given to him and causes death without ill will
  towards the person whose death is caused.
• Ex 4 If committed without premeditation in
  fight, in heat of passion without taking undue
  advantage and acting in a cruel manner
• Ex 5 If person whose death is caused being above
  the age of 18 years suffers death or takes the
  risk of death with his own consent

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Punishment for Murder

• Sec 302 IPC Punishment for Murder. Whoever
  commits murder shall be punished with death,
  imprisonment for life or shall also be liable to
  fine.
• 304A IPC Rash and Negligent Act. Whoever causes
  death of any person by doing rash and negligent
  act not amounting to homicide will be punished
  with imprisonment of either description for a
  term which may extend to 2 yrs or fine or both.
  (No intention/knowledge to cause death)

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S 304 B IPC (1), (2)

• Dowry Death (1) Death of a woman caused by burns
  or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than normal
  circumstances within seven years of her marriage
  and it is shown that before her death she was
  subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband
  or relative of her husband in connection with
  demand for Dowry, shall be deemed to have caused
  the death.
• (2) Whoever commits Dowry death shall be punished
  with imprisonment of not less than 7 yrs, may
  extend to life imprisonment.

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Sec 322-328 IPC

• 321- Voluntarily causing hurt
• 322- Voluntarily causing greivous hurt
• 323- Punishment for voluntarily causing Hurt (1
  year /- Rs 1000/-)
• 324- Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous
  weapons or means (shooting, stabbing cutting or
  any weapon of offence or means i.e. fire, heated
  substance, poison, corrosive or explosive)

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Contd

• 325- Punishment for voluntarily causing GH (7
  years /- fine)
• 326- Punishment for voluntarily causing GH by
  dangerous weapon or means (10 year /- fine)
• 327- Voluntarily causing hurt to extort property
  or constrain to an illegal act (10 years)
• 328- Causing hurt by means of poison with intent
  to commit an offence (10 years)

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Perceptions
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Thank You