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Human Hands Together
HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
LAW FOR THE DEAD : NECROPHILIA
LAW FOR THE DEAD : NECROPHILIA
- Shubhi Jadoun
Lloyd Law College

What is Necrophilia?

Paraphilia is a conduct where one is explicitly sexually stirred towards objects, targets which are surprising or unusual interests. World Heath Organisation has classified ‘Necrophilia’ as a ‘paraphilia’. The act of Necrophilia or necrophilism involves sexual attraction towards the corpses. It is a psychosexual disorder where one has bizarre fantasies revolving around the corpses.

Necrophilia out and out isn't generally a wrongdoing as there are classes of necrophiliacs, they could be heartfelt or romantic necrophiliacs who simply stay joined to the body of their dearest individual yet then again, is destructive or homicidal necrophiliacs who will in general murder the person to satisfy their obsession.(1) The latter obviously comes under the purview of a wrongdoing.

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Some incidents of Necrophilia


Nithari Kand, a case that shook the nation in year 2006, It was quite possibly the most awful occurrences where various kids were kidnapped, attacked, executed, and furthermore were casualties after their passing, that is necrophilia. Sadly, police confronted a ton of obstructions to documenting an argument against the blamed, Surender Kohli and Mohinder Singh, for necrophilia as Indian criminal justice framework is irrationally quiet for it and has no clear cut laws in the nation for managing the wrongdoing.


Indeed, even a very long time after the Nithari Case, as most recent as in 2020 May, a man in the town of Demaji area in Arunachal Pradesh endeavoured the act of necrophilia on a 14-year-old young girl's body yet wasn't charged for it but charged under IPC, POCSO.


Do we have a law for it?

Issue doesn't lies in proving the blame of these accused, the issue lies as to for what wrongdoing, would they be rebuffed, as we have no direct law.

Argumentation have been made concerning section 297 of the Indian Penal Code that by one way or another deal with this wrongdoing. It read as follows:-

“Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person, or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby, commits any trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sculpture, or any place set apart from the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.”(2)


It is relevant to take note of that it specifies, "commits trespass", which is an essential to be satisfied to charge the individual under the said section. It implies individuals previously working in graveyard; funeral home would never be expected to take responsibility for it as they are with permission or authority around there and can't intrude especially.


Additionally, contentions have been made regarding "offers any indignity" and the discipline thereof, which can only be stretched out to one year. Human dignity be during a period of living or dead remains the same, at that point how might an undignifieddemonstration of sexual assault be rebuffed with such less punishment. Punishment to a wrongdoing must be founded on prevention hypothesis, i.e., deterrence theory, so that, psyche of the individual doesn't permit him to carry out such wrongdoing when he considers it. Notwithstanding, with such indulgent discipline, one can consider doing it as and when he wished to as he would be out of the grasp of Indian Law. This discipline in any reasonable human's view, is exceptionally less for such an offence of offering outrage to any human corpse or his dignity.


In a report, John Trayor rightly pointed as to how dead bodies become quasi-subjects before law as they aren’t ‘person’ anymore and this would make the act of necrophilia just an act of vandalism, as it is done  against a mere ‘property’.(3)


This sounds upsetting as human pride and love of family doesn't changes with the situation with a being. A simple actuality that an individual is dead can't remove his dignity and permit the culprit to commit the demonstration of necrophilia to a so called 'property'.


Conclusion

United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, South Africa, Australia, have in one way or the other made the act of Necrophilia punishable. Also like Section 182 of Criminal Code, Canada, which does not expressly mentions about necrophilia but talks about any act that offers indignity or interferes with a dead body. Punishment for this offence is also 5 years which is much more as we have in India that is of 1 year that too if pre requisite of ‘trespassing’ is fulfilled.

India needs to change its laws and make the particular demonstration of necrophilia a wrongdoing as it is doing nothing but bad  as we can see that even after Nithari Kand, that shook the country, and as of late in 2017 they were granted capital punishment, even the most noteworthy discipline of capital punishment couldn't stop or forestall the individual in Arunachal Pradesh in the year 2020 to play out the demonstration of necrophilia towards a corpse of a little youngster and offered outrage, indignity to her body.

   

REFERENCES


[1] ANIL AGGRAWAL,“A classification of necrophilia”, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X08002564?via%3Dihub


[2] §297, Indian Penal Code, 1860


">[3] JOHN TRAYOR, The conversation, available at https://theconversation.com/why-we-are-so-fascinated-by-people-who-want-to-have-sex-with-dead-bodies-28622

One thought on “LAW FOR THE DEAD : NECROPHILIA

  1. Well said! To me, the law as stated here seems to be vague, naïve and very outdated. It needs to be updated with clear, concise language for such a heinous moral crime.

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