Crime is an unlawful act or omission of such an act which causes harm to the society as a whole and such an act is punishable by the state or the law.
Elements of Crime
There are mainly four essential elements of crime:
- Human Being
- Mens rea
- Actus reus
- Injury
Human Being
The first and foremost element of a crime is a human being. The injury must be caused by a human being. Any wrongful act to be called crime must be done by a human being. An human being can only be made legally bounded to act in judicial way as laws are applicable on humans only. Earlier animals used to be punished but their owners are made liable.
Mens rea
The second element of a crime is Mens rea which is guilty mind. It refers to the thought process or mental element of an individual which is very important element of a crime. An unlawful act committed by a person cannot be called a crime if he had committed the crime without any evil intent. There must be an evil intent while committing a crime. The maxim ‘Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea’ means that ‘the act itself does not make a man guilty unless his intentions were so.’ It is very important to prove Mens rea. It is necessary to prove that the person accused really had the intention to cause such harm to the other person or his property even after knowing the consequences of his actions. It is not always necessary to prove the mental element in civil law.
Actus reus
The third element is actus reus which is the latin term for guilty act. It refers to physical act or illegal omission in combination with mens rea. An act will be called crime when both mens rea and actus reus are present. Actus reus is related to the action that is required for the completion of the crime. E.g., if a person is thinking of killing someone then it will not be called murder until and unless an action is taken in order to kill that person.
A certain section of people is not capable of having a guilty intention even if they have committed a prohibited act. This category includes- the person of unsound mind, minor, and a person under whose while committing the action was under the influence of alcohol/drugs. These come under chapter IV of IPC which are as follows:
- Insanity
- Involuntary Intoxication
- Mistake of Fact
- Crime by a minor
Injury
It is the fourth and last element of crime. If the injury does not occur after having guilty mind and doing the guilty act then that crime is not considered as committed. Under section 44 of the Indian Penal Code Injury has been defined as ‘any harm whatever illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or property.’
However, there can be some crimes that may not cause any injury to anybody then also considered as a crime. For instance, if a person drives a vehicle without a driving license, then that person has committed a crime even after not causing any injury to other person.
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