Murder, homicide, manslaughter, assassination. These are some of the different words used to describe an event where one human being kills another. This theme has been a recurrent one be it in books or in world-class movies. Some of the best storylines, plots or even gaming concepts are centred on the theme of killing which is a dark and brutal way is quite humorous as it shows that what most people want is the death of a human being. However, a common mistake people make is to use these words interchangeably. The scope of this article is to identify where to draw a fine line between the use of two of these terms- Homicide and Murder.

First, let’s talk murder. The word itself sends shivers down one’s spine of excitement or nervousness or maybe both. Murder basically refers to the intentional killing of one human being by another. The prefix ‘intentional’ is to be noted especially as it serves as one of the major marks of differentiation between murder and homicide. The legal jargon used in this scenario is a killing that was committed with ‘malice aforethought’. However, this does not in any way mean that malice is a necessary factor for a murder to take place. For any killing to be classified as murder, there ideally must be an intent to kill or at least a conduct that is so reckless that it can be considered as murder. Now with Homicide, the story is a little different. Agatha Christie once said, “Everyone is a murderer. In everyone there arises from time to time the wish to kill although not the will to kill”. And that is essentially what differentiates murder from a homicide. The word ‘homicide’ comes from Latin in which ‘homo’ means ‘man’ and ‘cide’ means to ‘cut’. Thus, a homicide is basically a killing that may be classified as legal if the situations justify it. Homicides can also be considered illegal and in such an instance it is treated as murder. Therefore, to put it simply, All murder may be homicide but not all homicide is murder.

Now that the basic distinctions between the two types of killings are clear, the next step is to look at the way in which they are classified. Considering that all murders are intentional and therefore must be planned, murder is illegal and a crime. On this basis, Murders are classified into three types for ease of jurisprudence. First-degree murders are basically those where the accused takes part in killing a person of the vulnerable category as in the case of children or in the case when he/she unintentionally and by accident kills someone while committing another crime. First-degree murders usually include ‘premeditated killings’, i.e., any killing that required even the tiny-est of planning and implementation. Second-degree murders on the other hand include all those killings that are not premeditated as these killings show that the accused showed a horrifying indifference to the sanctity of human life and also to the welfare of others. The third type of murder is what is known as felony murder which is basically a killing that happens while committing another crime that is categorized as a felony. The punishment for first-degree murder can go up to 25 years while second-degree murders can get up to 15 years in prison.

Homicide, as compared to murders, may be classified both as legal and illegal. For instance, soldiers killing the enemy in battle is in essence killing but it is deemed justified by law and hence considered to be a legal homicide. Similarly, in the frequent case that someone finds an intruder inside their home and kills him, it will not be considered a crime but rather an action taken in self-defence. In all such cases, the law is almost always on the side of the accused. Usually, plaintiff law firms would have a tough time winning their case if on the side of the victim. However, there are a few award-winning law firms like Schmidt & Clarke that have a good record in handling tough cases and lawsuits. Illegal homicides of course fall under the category of murders and are a punishable offence by law. Such kind of homicides is also referred to as culpable homicides amounting to murder.

Both Murder and Culpable Homicides are two offences under the Indian Penal Code. Section 299 of the IPC talks in detail about cases of culpable homicide and the resulting punishment by law. It states that culpable homicide happens when the offender had the intention of causing such bodily harm that was likely to cause death. Section 300 of the IPC defines murder. Under this section, whoever causes death with the intention of causing death or by intentionally causing a bodily injury that is likely to cause death or by doing an act with knowledge that is likely to cause death comes under the category of murder as a punishable offence.

Be it murder or homicide, at the end of the day with every killing, one life is lost, and all people connected to the killing suffer. In the words of Mae West, ‘You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough’. That is something that people need to be taught to remember before they commit crimes that even jail time cannot rectify.

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