Sodomy and lesbianism reintroduced as unnatural sexual offence in New MBBS Curriculum
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has reinstated several controversial topics in the forensic medicine and toxicology curriculum for undergraduate medical students. These topics include references to 'sodomy and lesbianism' as unnatural sexual offences.
The curriculum also addresses various sexual behaviors, including fetishism, transvestism, exhibitionism, frotteurism, voyeurism, sadism, masochism, and necrophilia.
The curriculum covers various sexual behaviours such as fetishism, transvestism, voyeurism, sadism, masochism, exhibitionism, frotteurism, and necrophilia.
However, according to a PTI source, the difference between the consensual sex between queer people has been eliminated.
This change comes six years after Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was removed by the Supreme Court of India, and decriminalized homosexuality.
Following the Madras High Court directive, these topics were removed in 2022.
Other reintroduced subjects include discussions on the hymen and their types, virginity, and defloration, along with their medico-legal implications and the legitimacy of children.
The changed curriculum also covers legal topics such as the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), and the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), as well as civil and criminal cases, inquest (Police Inquest and Magistrate's Inquest), and cognisable and Non-cognisable offence.
An important change in the revised curriculum is the removal of the seven-hour training module on disability.
The focus has now shifted to ensure that the students are well-versed in the medico-legal aspects of medical practice, such as codes of conduct, medical ethics, professional misconduct, and medical negligence.
According to the NMC's document, the curriculum is designed to equip students to handle medico-legal cases and stay informed about relevant laws.
In its Competency-Based Medical Education Curriculum (CBME) Guidelines, 2024, NMC said, "It was time to have a relook at all aspects of the various components in the existing regulations and guidelines, and adapt them to the changing demography, socio-economic context, perceptions, values, advancements in medical education and expectations of stakeholders."
The undergraduate medical education program aims to produce an "Indian Medical Graduate" (IMG) equipped with the knowledge, skills, and ethical values necessary to serve as an effective first-contact physician in the community, while also being globally competent.
"To achieve this, the following national and institutional goals for the learner of the Indian Medical Graduate training program are hereby prescribed," the document states.
"The first contact physician needs to be skillful to perform duties of primary care physician and have requisite skills for promotive, preventative, rehabilitative, palliative care and referral services," it added.