54.-(1) If any person who has attained the age of sixteen years and has the custody, charge or care of any child under that age, wilfully assaults, ill-treats, neglects, abandons or exposes him or causes or procures him to be assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health (including
injury to or loss of sight, or hearing, or limp or organ of the body and any mental derangement) that person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding one year or to a fine not exceeding .1000 or to both such imprisonment and fine.
(2) For the purposes of this section-
(a) a parent or other person legally liable to maintain a child shall be deemed to have neglected him in a manner likely to cause injury to his health if he has failed to provide adequate food, clothing, medical aid or lodging for him or if, having been unable otherwise to provide such food, clothing or medical aid, he failed to take other steps to procure it;
(b) where it is proved that the death of an infant under three years of age was cause by suffocation (not being suffocation caused by disease or the presence of any foreign body in the throat or air passages of the infant) while the infant was in bed with some other person who has attained the age of sixteen years that other person shall, if he was, when he went to bed, under the influence of drink, be deemed to have neglected the infant in a manner likely to cause injury to its health.
(3) A person may be convicted of an offence under this section-
(a) notwithstanding that actual suffering or injury to health or the likelihood of actual suffering or injury to health was obviated by the action of another person;
(b) notwithstanding the death of the child in question.
(4) If it is proved that a person convicted under this section was directly or indirectly interested in any sum of money accruing or payable in the event of the death of the child and had knowledge that that sum of money was accruing or becoming payable then the sum payable shall be forfeited by the Court and the maximum amount of fine which may be imposed under this section shall be .1500 and the Court shall have power in lieu of awarding any other penalty under this section to sentence the person convicted to imprisonment not exceeding five years.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (4)-
(a) a person shall be deemed to be directly or indirectly interested in a sum of money if he has any share in or any benefit from the payment of that money, notwithstanding that he may not be a person to whom it is legally payable; and
(b) a copy of a policy of insurance certified to be a true copy by an officer or agent of the insurance company granting the policy, shall be evidence that the child therein stated to be insured has in fact been so insured and that the person in whose favour the policy has been granted is the person to whom the money thereby insured is legally payable.
(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the right of any parent, teacher or other person having the lawful control or charge of the child to administer punishment to him.