Act to which a
person is
compelled by
threats.
- Except murder, and offences against the State punishable with death, nothing is an
offence which is done by a person who is compelled to do it by threats, which, at the time of
doing it, reasonably cause the apprehension that instant death to that person will otherwise
be the consequence:
Provided that the person doing the act did not of his own accord, or from a reasonable
apprehension of harm to himself short of instant death, place himself in the situation by
which he became subject to such constraint.
Explanation 1.—A person who, of his own accord, or by reason of a threat of being
beaten, joins a gang of dacoits, knowing their character, is not entitled to the benefit of this
exception, on the ground of his having been compelled by his associates to do anything that
is an offence by law.
Explanation 2.—A person seized by a gang of dacoits, and forced, by threat of instant
death, to do a thing which is an offence by law; for example, a smith compelled to take his
tools and to force the door of a house for the dacoits to enter and plunder it, is entitled to the
benefit of this exception.