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A sees a child drowning. A can swim, but has no legal duty to rescue the child and did not cause the…

Under section 3(4), references to acts done generally extend to illegal omissions. A person's ability to swim does not itself make that person legally bound to rescue. On…

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A sees a child drowning. A can swim, but has no legal duty to rescue the child and did not cause the danger. A makes no rescue attempt and the child dies. What follows under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from A's failure to rescue alone?

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Answer and explanation

Correct answer B

Under section 3(4), references to acts done generally extend to illegal omissions.

A person's ability to swim does not itself make that person legally bound to rescue. On the stated facts there is no such duty, so the failure alone does not establish criminal liability.

Option feedback

Option A

Swimming ability alone creates no legal duty to act on the stated facts.

Option B

A had no legal duty to rescue the child, so the failure to act was not an illegal omission.

Option C

The accident exception concerns an accident in doing a lawful act. The conclusion follows from the absence of a duty here.

Option D

The death does not itself create a legal duty to rescue.

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