The case of R. v. Nath (1961) All NLR 500 though slightly different appears to have been decided on same principles with the present case. The accused in that case, while struggling with the deceased for the possession of some fruits, pushed the deceased down and struck her twice in the stomach with a stick. Her spleen was enlarged as a result of chronic malaria which ruptured it and she died almost at once. The court found the accused did not intend to cause grievous harm which as the court found was not an objectively forceable consequence of the blows he inflicted on the deceased. The Supreme Court set aside a verdict of murder and substituted a verdict of manslaughter.
ACTUS REUS AND MENS REA IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
It is in recognition of the above requirements that we usually say that for there to exist criminal responsibility, the prosecution must not only prove that it was the act of the accused that resulted or caused the death of the deceased but that the resultant death was intended by the accused. The above constitutes the explanation for the doctrine of actus reus and mens rea in criminal prosecutions.
— Onnoghen, JSC. Njoku v. The State (2012)