Injury
Definition
Any harm whatever illegally caused to a person in body, mind, reputation or property (BNS 2023 Section 2(14), carrying forward IPC Section 44).
- Field
- Medical jurisprudence, India
- Statute
- BNS 2023 Section 2(14)
- Predecessor
- IPC Section 44
- Scope
- Harm to body, mind, reputation or property
Common questions
Why does the statutory definition of injury include reputation and property, not just the body?+
The broad definition lets the same legal term cover physical assault, defamation, and property damage offences under one umbrella, so a forensic report on physical harm is addressing only one branch of what the statute recognises as injury.
How does this statutory definition affect how a medico-legal report is worded?+
A medico-legal examiner reports on the bodily and mental harm component, since that is within clinical competence, while reputational or property harm falls to other evidence and legal argument, not the medical examination.
Related terms
- Abraded Collar
- 1 to 3 mm rim of grazed skin around a firearm entry wound caused by the bullet stretching and scraping the skin...
- Abrasion
- A wound where friction or tangential force removes the superficial layers of skin without penetrating the full thickness. Abrasions preserve the direction...
- Chop Wound
- Combined incised and lacerated injury from a heavy edged weapon (axe, kulhari), often involving underlying bone.
- Contusion (Bruise)
- Blunt-force trauma that ruptures small vessels beneath an intact skin surface. Blood collects in the tissue. Location, size, and shape can indicate...
- Defence Wound
- Injury sustained while warding off an attack, typically incised or stab wounds on the palms, fingers, ulnar borders of forearms or back...
- Grievous Hurt
- Hurt falling within any of the eight clauses of BNS 2023 Section 116 (emasculation, vision loss, hearing loss, member or joint deprivation,...
- Incised Wound
- A wound produced by a sharp-edged implement. Margins are clean, without contusion or bridging. Depth is less than length in a classic...
- Laceration
- A wound torn by blunt or shearing force, characterised by ragged, contused margins and tissue bridges crossing the wound depths. The distinction...
- Simple Hurt
- Any hurt that does not fall within the eight clauses of grievous hurt under BNS 2023 Section 116; punishable under Section 115.
- Stab (Punctured) Wound
- Wound produced by a pointed weapon where depth is greater than length on the skin; gives the best clue to weapon dimensions.
- Wound
- A breach of natural continuity of any tissue, living or dead, caused by physical or mechanical violence.