Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code

Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code talks about punishment for murder.

302. Punishment for murder

Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or 1[imprisonment for life], and shall also be liable to fine. Murder is the unlawful killing of one human being by another without any justification or valid excuse and with malice intended.

Section 300 of the IPC talks about murder.

300. Murder

Except in the cases hereinafter excepted, culpable homicide is murder, if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or—

Secondly, If it is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person to whom the harm is caused, or—

Thirdly, If it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person and the bodily injury intended to be in­flicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death, or—

Fourthly, If the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause death or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury as aforesaid. Section 302 makes murder a cognizable and non-bailable offense.

Rajesh v. State (NCT of Delhi)

This is a case in Delhi High Court, a Division Bench comprising of S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel, JJ. dismissed a criminal appeal filed against the order of the trial court whereby the appellant was convicted under Section 302 IPC. The appellant was alleged to have murdered his wife. It was proved that the deceased was last seen with the appellant. The prosecution examined 45 witnesses before the trial court. Based on the testimonies of witnesses and findings of the court, the appellant was convicted for the murder of his wife under Section 302 and sentenced accordingly. Aggrieved thus, the appellant filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence.

The High Court perused the record and took note of the findings as made by the trial court. The Court noted that the mother of the appellant (PW 1) deposed that the appellant and the deceased slept together and also that she saw the appellant with the deceased on the night of the incident. Further, the post-mortem report clearly showed that the death of the deceased was a result of serious injuries which were caused by the sharp-edged weapon, maybe a farsa. In the Court’s opinion, the prosecution proved that the death was homicidal. Moreover, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) Report proved that the death was caused inside the jhuggi where the deceased was sleeping with the appellant. The Court observed that there was no alternative theory to suggest how the deceased may have suffered the injuries in the facts and circumstances of the case. For the reasons aforestated, the Court was unable to reach a conclusion different from that of the trial court. Resultantly, the conviction of the appellant was upheld and the appeal was dismissed.

Arjun and ANR. Etc Vs State of Chattisgarh

On 19.11.2006 at about 9:45 AM, deceased Ayodhya Prasad had gone to his field alongside Bajrang Manjhi, Borri Verma, Gilli Raout and Makunda Raout. The deceased was cutting a tree with the help of the persons along with him and at that time, the appellants came in the field and they stopped the deceased and his labor from cutting the tree. Deceased Ayodhya Prasad told the appellants that he was the owner of the tree, therefore he was cutting the tree. Some quarrel took place between them and the appellants assaulted the deceased with a knife and stone. The deceased fell down and sustained injuries on his head. His head was severely injured, he was taken to Bilaspur for treatment, but, he died on the way near Mahanadi Bridge. Shivprasad, the brother of the deceased lodged a First Information Report.  The post-mortem was conducted, the cause of death was a hemorrhagic shock due to head injuries and the death was homicidal in nature. The investigation was completed and a charge sheet was filed against the appellants in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, who committed the case to the Court of Session  Raipur, from where it was received on transfer by Second Additional Sessions Judge, Balodabazar, who conducted the trial and convicted and sentenced the appellants.

The appellants approached the Supreme Court for relief. The division bench of the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals and upheld the judgment of the Additional Sessions Judge. The appellants were held liable for punishment under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code.

This article aimed to define the meaning of Section 302, the nature of Section 302, the punishment of murder and also some landmark judgments on Section 302.

Developments in Section 376 of IPC

Scope of Section 376 of IPC

Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code deals with the Punishment for rape and this particular has undergone various amendments to meet the requisites of the society. It attempts at deterring such criminal offenders by instilling a sense of fear in them. Unfortunately looking at the rate of crimes against women, we cannot totally agree to the fact that such legal provisions have relieved women. In this article, we shall be analyzing section 376 along with the amendments it has undergone over time.

Section 376 before Amendments:

• Subsection 1 deals with the punishment for rape of a woman in all circumstances except the ones mentioned under Section 376(2). The punishment in such cases was rigorous imprisonment for a period not less than 7 years and which may be extended to imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.
• Subsection 2 deals with the punishment for the rape of a woman committed by police officers, public servants, member of armed forces, etc. The punishment is a period of not less than 10 years which may extend to imprisonment for life i.e. imprisonment for the remainder of his life and shall also be liable to fine.

The Rape Laws underwent a change in 2013 after the brutal Delhi Gang Rape Case (Nirbhaya Rape Case). The nation-wide spread outrage over the brutal Gang rape in the Capital City which eventually led to the death of the Physiotherapy intern became the driving force behind the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment act 2013. The Act increased the ambit of the term “Rape” as mentioned under Section 375 of IPC.

Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013:

The Act came into force on the 3^rd of February 2013. It inserted 4 clauses (376 A TO 376 D) in Section 376 taking into consideration cases where the injury inflicted on women during Rape can get them in a permanent vegetative state.

1. 376 A– Whoever, commits an offence punishable under sub-section (1) or subsection (2) of section 376 and in the course of such commission inflicts an injury which causes the death of the woman or causes the woman to be in a persistent vegetative state, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term of minimum twenty years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life i.e. imprisonment for the remainder natural life of the offender, or with death.
2. 376 B– Whoever has sexual intercourse with his wife, living separately, whether under a decree of separation or otherwise, without her consent, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term of minimum 2 years which may even extend to 7 years and will also be liable to fine.
3.  376 C–  Whoever, being:

•   In a position of authority or in a fiduciary relationship; or
•  A public servant; or
•  Superintendent or manager of a jail, remand home or other places of custody established by or under any law for the time being in force, or a women’s or children’s institution; or
• On the management of a hospital or being on the staff of a hospital, abuses such position or fiduciary relationship to induce or seduce any woman either in his custody or under his charge or present in the premises to have sexual intercourse with him, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment of either description for a term of minimum 5 years which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.

4.  376 D– Where a woman is raped by one or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offence of rape and shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term of minimum 20 years but which may extend to life which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and with fine: Keeping in mind that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim.

Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018

This Act came into force on the 21^st of April 2018. It intended to amend the subsections of Section 376 and also insert a few clauses. In subsection 1 of Section 376, it substituted the 7-year imprisonment with rigorous imprisonment of minimum 10 years which may extend to life imprisonment. Moreover, Section 376 had only 2 subsections and this Act inserted another subsection which stated that whoever commits rape on a woman below 16 years shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment of minimum 20 years which may extend to imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.

Read Also: Child Sexual Abuse in India

Further an additional Section 376 AB was inserted after 376 A and it laid down that “Whoever commits rape on a woman below 12 years shall be subjected to rigorous imprisonment of minimum 20 years which may even extend to imprisonment for life, and with fine or with death.” The fine imposed should be reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim.

Then Section 376 DA was added after 376 D and it stated “When a woman below 16 years is raped by 1 or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of such persons shall be deemed to have committed the offense of rape and shall be punished with imprisonment for life, and with fine.

Conclusion:

The various Amendments have made an attempt to bring about significant changes in the country but the implementation of such acts on the land has remained lousy. Another issue which continues to be overlooked by our legislators is Marital Rape and unfortunately, none of these Amendment Acts have acknowledged it as a crime. Hence we see Stringent Legislation is required for overall protection of women from outsiders as well as their family members.

Punishment for Rape – An offence under the Indian Penal Code

The term “rape” is defined under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. Under Indian law, only a man can be held liable for the offense of rape. A man is said to commit rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman under any of the six following conditions –

• Against the will of the woman;
• Without the consent of the woman;
• With her consent, when her consent was obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested by fear or of death or hurt;
• With her consent, when the man is aware that he is not her husband and that her consent has been given because she believes that he is another man to whom she believes herself to be law­fully married;
• With her consent, when, at the time of giving such consent, due to unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupe­fying or unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the consent she gives;
• With or without her consent, when she is below sixteen years of age.

The explanation to the Section says that penetration is sufficient to constitute the offense of rape.

The exception to the Section says that Sexual intercourse by a man on his own wife, with the wife being not below fifteen years of age is not rape, within the meaning of the Section.

Punishment for Rape –

The minimum punishment for rape shall be imprisonment of either a description for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend for the entire life or for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine, unless the woman raped in question, is the own wife of the man.

In case, the woman is the wife of the perpetrator, and she is under twelve years of age, in that case, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which can extend to two years or with fine or both.

Rape of a woman who is under twelve years of age – [Section 376(2)(f)]

The punishment for this includes a term which shall not be less than ten years, which may extend for life, and the perpetrator shall also be liable to pay a fine.

Rape of a woman, knowing that she is pregnant – [Section 376(2)(e)]

The punishment for this includes a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend for life and the perpetrator shall also be liable to pay a fine.

Gang rape – [Section 376(2)(g)]

The definition of Gang rape is included in the Explanation under Section 376(2)(g). Gang rape means “Where a woman is raped by one or more in a group of persons acting in furtherance of their common intention, each of the persons shall be deemed to have committed gang rape within the meaning of this subsection.” 

It means that even if six people force a woman into having sexual intercourse with only one of them, yet the remaining five will also be considered to have committed rape under Section 376(2)(g).

Punishment for the rape of this nature includes imprisonment term which shall not be less than ten years but which may be for life and the perpetrator shall also be liable to pay a fine.

Custodial Rape – [Section 376(2)a,b,c and d]

This includes rape on a woman in their or their subordinate’s custody by –

• A police officer within the limits of the police station to which he is appointed, or in the premises of any station house whether or not situated in the police station to which he is appointed; or on a woman in his custody or in custody of a police officer in a subordinate position to him.
• A public servant
• Management or the staff of a jail, remand home, or some other place of custody or a women’s or children’s institution.
• Management or the staff of a hospital.

CONCLUSION

Rape is one of the most heinous offenses in India. It is an offense which has brought so much agitation from all corners of India and from almost segments of the society. However, the Indian Penal Code is a colonial law. It was drafted way back in the 1860s, and hence, most of it seems redundant in the world of feminist evolution. The catch about Section 375 is that only a man can commit rape, and only a woman can be the victim under the same. Hence, the offense of rape on a man by a man or a woman does come within the ambit of this section. Rape laws have also been made stringent by the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, which provides for Death Penalty for the rape of women below twelve years of age. Plus, the minimum punishment for rape was increased from seven years to ten years and rape of girls below sixteen years is now punishable with imprisonment up to twenty years or life imprisonment