The Karnataka High Court pointed out cases involving hospital guards having sexual intercourse with dead bodies of young women. And shockingly, it is not considered a crime in India. While the changes in the IPC may take longer, institutions can reduce violations by installing CCTV cameras and hiring more female attendants in mortuaries. 

What’s the matter? 

Last week, some observations shared by the Karnataka HC, in India, raised eyebrows. 

The bench was hearing an appeal in a matter involving murder and necrophilia on Tuesday, May 30. As quoted by news reports, Justice Venkatesh Naik, and Justice B Veerappa said the court noticed several cases involving attendants at private and government hospital mortuaries having sex with corpses of young women. Yet, having sexual intercourse with dead bodies is not an offense in India. Further, they urged the center to make law (provision in IPC) and turn necrophilia into a crime. 

The court also instructed the Karnataka state government to ensure mortuaries remain under CCTV surveillance. Directions have to be implemented within six months. 

You might wonder, which countries treat necrophilia as an offense? Well, as of now, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, and the UK consider having sex with dead bodies a crime. 

Related: Ohio Morgue Worker Admits to Having Sex with 100 Corpses

Finding female attendants and doctors to work in mortuaries is challenging

Has the social degradation of people in India reached a level that we cannot even ensure the dignity of dead women? Have we become a morally corrupt nation? These questions are highly debatable. In the meantime, both private and state-run hospitals should consider hiring female attendants to handle the dead bodies of women. And this won’t be easy as it requires years of planning. 

Besides attendants, morgues also find it difficult to hire female doctors for conducting post-mortems on women in some cities. 

Back in 2018, lawyer Adil Khatri had filed a PIL in Bombay HC. His prayer highlighted that teams consisting of male doctors, morgue attendants, and sweepers conducted post-mortems in Mumbai’s public hospitals. His petition urged the court to look into the matter and ask BMC to use digital autopsy in case of female dead bodies. 

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