Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, A beats his wife, who falls down and becomes unconscious.…

Under the settled legal principle laid down in In Re: Palani Goundan, ILR (1919) 42 Mad 547 (FB), the initial beating and the subsequent hanging do not form a single pre-planned transaction to cause death. When A beat his wife and rendered her unconscious, he lacked the intention to cause death or knowledge that his act was likely to cause death as required for culpable homicide under Section 100 or murder under Section 101 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Sections 299 and 300 IPC). When A subsequently hanged her to stage a suicide, he acted under the mistaken belief that she was already dead, and therefore lacked the mens rea to kill a living human being at the time of the act that actually caused her death. Accordingly, A is not guilty of murder or culpable homicide, and is liable for voluntarily causing grievous hurt under Section 117 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 325 IPC) for the initial assault, along with attempting to cause disappearance of evidence.