Define infanticide. Describe the legal provisions in India and the questions to be answered at the autopsy of a newborn.

Definition and the Indian Position

• INDIA has NO separate offence OF infanticide. This is the single most important point. The killing of a newborn by its mother is murder under BNS 103 (formerly IPC 302), tried and punished as such, with no statutory mitigation for the puerperal state — though the courts take it into account in sentencing
• Foeticide is the destruction of the fetus in utero; infanticide is the killing of the child after birth. The dividing line between them is the crux of every such case
• The killing may also be by neglect — failure to tie the cord, failure to clear the airway, exposure or abandonment — and an omission is as culpable as an act where there was a duty to care

The Questions to Be Answered

• 1. Was the child viable? — capable of leading a separate existence, which requires an assessment of maturity and of any lethal malformation → 2.
• Was the child born alive? — the central question, answered by the signs of respiration and of separate existence → 3.
• If born alive, how long did it survive? — from the cord, the gastrointestinal air, the caput, meconium and the circulatory changes → 4.
• What was the cause of death? — natural, accidental or homicidal → 5.
• What is the maturity (age) of the child? — by length, weight, ossification centres and external features → 6.
• Was the child full term? and was the birth attended or unattended → 7.
• Identity — and, in the suspected mother, the signs of recent delivery and DNA to establish maternity

Circumstances and Motive

• The classical circumstances in India — an illegitimate pregnancy concealed through fear and shame; poverty and the inability to support another child; and female infanticide, which remains a serious problem in parts of the country and is reflected in the child sex ratio. The PC-PNDT Act addresses its antenatal counterpart
• Puerperal psychosis and severe depression are genuine and recognised, and may support a defence of unsoundness of mind under BNS 22 (formerly IPC 84) or reduce the offence; a psychiatric assessment of the mother is essential and is frequently omitted
• The mother is often a very young, frightened, unsupported girl who has delivered alone and without any medical attendance; and the distinction between deliberate killing, panic, ignorance and genuine accident is the whole difficulty of these cases
• The body is characteristically disposed of secretly — buried, thrown into a well, drain, river or refuse heap, or left in a public place — and is often decomposed by the time it is found, which destroys most of the findings on which live birth depends

Foeticide, Infanticide and the Legal Boundary

• The practical consequence of this ladder is that the medical evidence determines which rung applies. Proof of live birth raises the case to murder; its absence, or the impossibility of establishing it, drops it to concealment of birth. Nothing else the doctor does matters as much

Applied Aspects

• Establish live birth before anything else; without it the charge cannot be murder, and in practice the great majority of these cases end in a conviction only for concealment of birth under BNS 94, which requires no proof of live birth at all
• Do not confuse the legal and medical senses of "born"; the law requires only that a part be brought forth, whereas the medical signs address whether the child breathed and existed separately
• Examine the suspected mother for signs of recent delivery, and take DNA from both; maternity is a matter of proof and should not be assumed from the circumstances
• Assess the mother’s mental state and record it; puerperal psychosis and severe depression are real, and the omission of a psychiatric assessment in an infanticide case is a serious failure
• Preserve everything — the cord, the placenta if available, the wrappings and the container — and take viscera for toxicology, since poisoning and drowning are both used
• Remember that decomposition destroys the evidence of live birth, and that a negative hydrostatic test in a putrefied body means nothing; the report should say so plainly rather than concluding stillbirth
• India has no separate offence of infanticide; the killing of a newborn by its mother is murder, with no statutory mitigation for the puerperal state
• The law and medicine mean different things by born — any part brought forth for the law, separate existence for medicine
• Killing by omission is as culpable as by act — failing to tie the cord, to clear the airway or to feed, where there was a duty to care
• Female infanticide remains a real problem in parts of India, and its antenatal counterpart is addressed by the PC-PNDT Act
• Assess and record the mother mental state; puerperal psychosis and severe depression are genuine and may found a defence under BNS 22
• The mother is often a frightened unsupported girl who delivered alone, and the distinction between killing, panic and accident is the whole difficulty
• Preserve the wrappings, the container and the cord; they may identify the person and the place, and are routinely discarded
• Take DNA from the child and any suspected mother; maternity is a matter of proof and should never be assumed from circumstances
• The body is usually decomposed by the time it is found, which is why most infanticide investigations end in concealment of birth
• Answer the seven questions in order — viability, live birth, survival, cause, maturity, term and identity — and do not skip to the cause
• Foeticide and infanticide are divided by birth, and the ladder of offences from BNS 88 to BNS 103 turns on exactly where the child was
• A conviction is possible without proving how the child died, under BNS 94, which requires only a dead child and a secret disposal
• The puerperal state is not a defence in itself in India, though it is taken into account in sentencing and may support unsoundness of mind
• Examine any suspected mother for recent delivery; the lochia, uterus, breasts and perineum together date it
• Ask about attendance at the birth; a cut or tied cord means somebody was present, and that person is a witness or an accused
• The placenta may be with the body, and its presence indicates an unattended delivery with no third stage management
• Never certify stillbirth from a negative floatation test alone in a decomposed body; say the finding is uninterpretable