Whoever voluntarily causes or attempts to cause any person to do anything which that person is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do anything which he is legally entitled to do, by inducing or attempting to induce that person to believe that he, or any person in whom he is interested, will become or will be rendered by some act of the offender an object of divine displeasure if he does not do the thing which it is the object of the offender to cause him to do, or if he does the thing which it is the object of the offender to cause him to omit, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
Section history
Section 508 — Act caused by inducing a person to believe that he will be rendered an object of divine displeasure
As in force on 1 October 2017.
Timeline 4 versions
- 30 March 1987 Enacted
- 30 November 2008 Revised edition
- 1 October 2017 You are here
- 1 January 2020 Act 15 of 2019
- 17 August 2026 Latest
Illustration
(a) A performs a ceremony at Z’s door with the intention of causing it to be believed that by so doing he renders Z an object of divine displeasure, unless Z does something he is not legally bound to do. A has committed the offence defined in this section.
(b) A threatens Z that unless Z performs a certain act, A will kill one of A’s own children, under such circumstances that the killing would be believed to render Z an object of divine displeasure. A has committed the offence defined in this section.
[Indian PC 1860, s. 508]