Medical Jurisprudence And Toxicology

230 MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE

he causes bodily injury to another who is labouring under a disorder,
disease or bodily infirmity, and thereby accelerates the death of that other
person (vide explanation 1, section 299, LP.C., Appendix IV). But the
intention or the knowledge with which the act which caused death was
committed is a necessary ingredient to bring about a conviction under these
offences. In such a case even if the medical officer has proved from post-
mortem examination the existence of the disease which caused the death
and its relation to the injury alleged to have accelerated it, the court will
have to be satisfied from the evidence before giving a decision (1) that the
death at the time when it occurred was not caused solely by the disease, and
(2) that it was caused by the bodily injury to this extent that it was accele-
rated "by such injury.

Cases.—1. In a criminal appeal in the Allahabad High Court where one Sukhdeo,
who was assaulted by Ghurey and Raghunath with spears, sustained thirteen injuries
on various parts of his person but not on any vital part of the body, and died of shock
and ha&morrrhage soon afterwards, it was held that the accused must be deemed to have
knowledge that death would be a likely result of beating. The accused would be guilty
of murder and the case fell under clause 2 of section 300, I.P.C. The injuries were
sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death or at any rate such as were
likely to cause death.—50 Cr. Law Jour., 1949, p. 535.

2. In a criminal appeal in the Nagpur High Court evidence showed that the accused
struck only one blow on the head of the deceased with a stick, 1 inch thick and 1J to
2 cubits long, when he fell down prostrate on the ground. After the fall two more
blows were given. The deceased had also received some other injuries on the head
and other parts of the body by the fall on the rough, sandy ground. The deceased died
two days afterwards. No single injury out of the nine on the head, whether caused
by a lathi or otherwise, was a fatal one. Death was the result of cumulative effect of
the injuries, some of which were not on a vital part of the body. There was no evidence
to show that the attack was not an ordinary attack but a sustained and determined
attack. It was held that the accused had no intention of causing the death of the
deceased or to cause such bodily injury as was likely to cause death, and section 302
or part one of section 304, I.P.C., had therefore no application. But the death was caused
with the knowledge that the act was likely to cause death or to cause such bodily
injury as was likely to cause death. The accused was therefore liable under part two
of section 304, I.P.C.—Hanuman Prasad Matadm v. The Crown, Nagpur High Court, Cr.
App. No. 271 of 1948, 50 Cr. Law Jour., 1949, p. 597.

3. In a case where death occurred from rupture of the liver due to an injury
inflicted on the region of the liver it was held that it could be presumed that the person
who caused the injury had knowledge that death might be caused if the liver was ruo-
tured and the case would clearly fall within the second part of section 304, IP.C. The
fact that the injury appeared superficial from outside was immaterial.—Guptar v. Rex,
Allahabad High Court, Cr. Appeal No. 882 of 1947, 50 Crim. Law Jour., 1949, p. 127.

4. On the 13th April 1925, I was called upon to examine the body of one Sadiq
Hussain, aged 45 years, who was alleged to have died from the injuries inflicted on him
about seven days ago. Abrasions were found on the knees, elbows and the first knuckle
of the right index finger. A small lacerated wound was found on the head and an
incised wound, J" by j", along the back If" to the right of the spine and 4" above the
loins. Internally the right kidney was found lying in a pool of blood. It was enlarged,
and was about three times the normal size. On section, a sarcomatous growth was found
round the kidney between its substance and the capsule. In the lower segment a cyst,
about the size of a rupee, was found affecting the whole substance of the kidney and
containing clotted blood. The haemorrhage appeared to have taken place from the
anterior surface of the kidney having given way and leading to the cyst. It was held
that the haemorrhage occurred from a fall due to the assault, and the accused was
sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for eighteen months, as he had no knowledge or
intention to e?use death.

5. Seven persons made a deliberate attack on one man, and ultimately caused his
death by fracturing his left ninth, tenth and eleventh ribs and rupturing his spleen
and inflicting three injuries on his head which left him unconscious and which might,
in the opinion of the medical officer, have also resulted in his death. They also inflicted
twenty-four injuries on the deceased, about twenty of them being inflicted after the
deceased had fallen down and was unconscious. It was held that the accused had no
intention of committing the wilful murder of the deceased; still the fact of the infliction
of the injuries showed that they beat him with the intention of causing such bodily
injuries as were likely to cause his death, or with the knowledge that thev were likely
by such acts to cause his death and that in the circumstances of this case all the accused
were clearly guilty of the offence of culpable homicide punishable under section 304,