C’garh: Sexual intercourse with a dead person, not rape under law : C’garh HC
The court however countered the prosecution stating that there can be no disagreement on the issue that dignity and fair treatment are not only available to a living man but also to a dead body
Bhopal: In a significant verdict, Chhattisgarh high court has held that sexual intercourse with a dead person cannot considered rape under the law.
Delivering the judgement in the case, a division bench comprising Chief Justice of the high court Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Dutta Guru has observed that section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act come into force only when the victim is alive and hence, sexual intercourse with a dead person cannot be considered a rape under the law.
The court however remarked that there is no doubt that the offense (necrophilia) of raping a dead body committed by the accused is one of the most horrendous crimes one can think of.
“But the fact of the matter is that as on date, the said accused cannot be convicted” as the offense of rape was committed with a dead body.
The case relates to the recent incident in which two men, Nitin Yadav and Neel Kanth Nagesh, indulged in abducting, raping and murdering a minor.
Yadav was convicted of rape, kidnapping, and murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court while his alleged accomplice, Nagesh, was accused of destroying the evidence.
The prosecution in the case sought the bench to uphold the conviction of Yadav for rape arguing that necrophilia violates Article 21 of the constitution, guaranteeing the right to die with dignity, and that the right extends to how a person’s body is treated after death.
The court however countered the prosecution stating that there can be no disagreement on the issue that dignity and fair treatment are not only available to a living man but also to a dead body.
“But the law as on date has to be applied to the facts of the case, and none of the offenses as prayed by the learned counsel for the objector can be imposed upon the appellant (accused)”, the court has held.
The court acquitted Yadav of rape charges, although he was convicted for other crimes.