SUPREME COURT REJECTS KARNATAKA GOVT'S PLEA TO CLASSIFY NECROPHILIA AS RAPE

On February 4, the Supreme Court observed that necrophilia is not explicitly recognized as an offence under existing penal laws, thereby limiting its ability to interfere with the Karnataka High Court’s partial acquittal order in a case involving post-mortem sexual assault. The case pertains to an accused who, after committing murder, engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim’s lifeless body.

A bench comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah was hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the State Government challenging the High Court’s decision. While the High Court upheld the conviction for murder, it acquitted the accused of rape charges on the grounds that Indian law does not categorize sexual acts with a deceased person as an offence. The Supreme Court acknowledged this legal gap but noted its constraints in interfering with the acquittal in the absence of specific legislative provisions criminalizing necrophilia.

Karnataka’s Additional Advocate General, Aman Panwar, representing the State, contended that the term "body" under Section 375(c) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) should be interpreted to include a deceased body. He further argued that under the seventh clause of the definition of rape, any instance where a woman is unable to communicate consent qualifies as rape. By this reasoning, he asserted that a dead body, being incapable of providing consent, should fall within the ambit of the rape provision.

However, the Supreme Court bench, after considering the arguments, declined to entertain the challenge. In its order, the Court emphasized that necrophilia is not recognized as an offence under the IPC. Given the absence of a specific legal provision criminalizing such acts, the bench stated that it was not inclined to interfere with the High Court’s decision, which had acquitted the accused of rape charges while upholding the conviction for murder.

The Karnataka High Court bench, comprising Justice B. Veerappa and Justice Venkatesh Naik T, ruled that sexual assault on a deceased woman does not constitute the offence of rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code. Consequently, the court acquitted a man of rape charges despite him committing sexual assault on the lifeless body of a 21-year-old woman after murdering her.

The bench partly overturned the decision of the trial court of convicting under S. 376, and it reasoned, “. A careful reading of the provisions of Sections 375 and 377 of the Indian Penal Code make it clear that, the dead body cannot be called as human or person. Thereby, the provisions of sections 375 or 377 of the Indian Penal Code would not attract. Therefore, there is no offence committed punishable under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code.”