BNS Section 100 : Culpable Homicide

Definition of BNS Section 100

Section 100 of the BNS 2023 States:
Whoever 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 act to cause death, commits the offence of culpable homicide.

Explanation and Illustration of BNS Section 100

This provision aims to clarify the legal boundaries surrounding actions that result in death and whether they should be classified as culpable homicide or not. By establishing the criteria for culpability, it seeks to ensure that individuals are held accountable for unlawful killings while also providing clarity on the distinctions between intentional and accidental deaths, helping to uphold justice in such sensitive matters. Explanations are as follows:

• If a person inflicts bodily injury on someone with a pre-existing disorder, disease, or infirmity, and the injury accelerates their death, the person causing the injury is deemed to have caused the death
• When death results from bodily injury, the person causing the injury is deemed responsible for the death, even if proper medical treatment could have prevented it
• Causing the death of an unborn child in the womb is not considered homicide. However, it may amount to culpable homicide if the death is of a living child, even if the child has not yet fully breathed or been completely born, as long as any part of the child has been delivered.

• Illustrations:
  (a) A places sticks and turf over a pit intending to cause death or knowing it is likely to cause death. Z, believing the ground to be solid, steps on it, falls in, and dies. A is guilty of culpable homicide.
  (b) A knows Z is hiding behind a bush, but B does not. A, with the intention or knowledge of causing Z's death, persuades B to shoot at the bush. B fires and kills Z. In this scenario, B may not have committed any offense, but A is guilty of culpable homicide.
  (c) A shoots at a bird intending to kill and steal it but accidentally kills B, who is behind a bush and unknown to A. While A was engaged in an unlawful act, they are not guilty of culpable homicide since there was no intent to kill B or knowledge that the act could likely cause death.

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