Culpable homicide not amounting to murder as a cause of mortality in the district of South Canara- A scenario from South India

Homicide is the highest level of aggression found in all cultures worldwide. When preplanning or malice aforethought is not evident adequately, the term ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’ is used in India. As per the Indian Penal Code, culpable homicide does not amount to murder, if the offender commits the act whilst deprived of the power of self-control by grave and sudden provocation by the victim; if the act is committed by the offender in good faith of the right of private defense of person or property; if the act is committed by a public servant acting for the advancement of public justice; if the act is committed without premeditation in the heat of passion upon a sudden quarrel; and if the victim aged eighteen years and above takes the risk of death with his own consent. A seven-year retrospective review of files at the Crime Records Bureau, Mangalore, South Canara in South India was undertaken for cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder occurring between July 2001 and July 2008. A total of five cases were identified in the coastal district of South Canara in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka. In our region, the rate of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was less than 0.10 per 100,000 population per year during the study period which was low when compared to the rate of murder that ranged from 1.27 to 1.84 per 100,000 population per year during the same period. The victims, three males and two females, were aged between three and sixty years (mean = 39 years) and the offenders, all males, were aged between 25 and 45 years (mean = 31.6 years). In all five cases weapons such as blunt objects (N = 4) and firearms (N = 1) were involved in battery. There were no sharp weapons involved in any of the cases. The head bore the fatal injury in four cases and the abdomen in one case. The circumstances leading to the act of culpable homicide not amounting to murder are discussed with a concise review of the Indian law on homicide.