may be slight; merely to touch another in anger is sufficient. Physical contact between the cwrongdoer and his or her victim is not, however, essential. Even throwing water on another person may constitute battery. Elements constituting the Tort of Battery are: (a) act (b) inflicting unlawful force (c) against another person. Proof of Damage on plaintiff is not an essential element of tort of battery.
80 Since the gist of Assault lies in the apprehension of impending contact, the effect on the victim's mind created by the threat is crucial, not whether the Defendant actually had the intention or the means to follow it up. Hence, it is actionable to point a pistol for the mere purpose of frightening. It is sufficient if the threat arouses apprehension in the mind of plaintiff. Battery & Assault are crimes as well as torts An Assault in Criminal Law is rather different from the Tort of Assault: Read sections 240-243 of the Penal Code, Chapter 16 of the Laws of Tanzania. The Tort of Battery, On the other hand, exists where there is a voluntary act of the Defendant. Professor Winfield would tell you that: I do not commit battery against you if X seizes my arm & uses it like a club. Here x, and x alone, is liable. Very often the threat of violence will be immediately followed by the actual application of violence to the Plaintiff's person, so that the Defendant would have committed both an Assault and a Battery. An example of a situation in
