Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 317: Exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years, by parent or person having care of it

Repealed. Repealed from 1 July 2024. Use it for offences committed before repeal and other liabilities, investigations or proceedings preserved by BNS section 358; do not use it as the current general penal code.

Chapter XVI — Of Offences Affecting the Human Body

317. Whoever being the father or mother of a child under the age of twelve years, or having the care of such child, shall expose or leave such child in any place with the intention of wholly abandoning such child, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both.

Explanation.-This section is not intended to prevent the trial of the offender for murder or culpable homicide, as the case may be, if the child die in consequence of the exposure.

Source: official text of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.