Karnataka HC acquits man for raping dead body due to IPC deficiency

Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court has acquitted a man of rape charges by holding that sexual assault on dead body does not attract the offence punishable under section 376 of the IPC.

A division bench of Justices B Veerappa and T Venkatesh Naik partly allowed the appeal filed by convict Rangaraju Vajapeyi, thereby setting aside the conviction under section 376 of the IPC.

However, the court upheld his conviction for murder and confirmed the life imprisonment sentence imposed by the trial court.

The court also urged the central government to include the term 'dead body' under IPC provisions to make out an offence to punish persons who commit sexual intercourse on a woman's corpse.

Vajapeyi, the accused, had sexually assaulted a 21-year-old girl's dead body after slitting her throat in the Tumkur district in June 2015.

While pronouncing the order, the court observed that a dead body has no feelings of outrage and added that a rape must be accomplished with a person, not a dead body.

"Rape must be accomplished against a person's will, and a dead body cannot consent to or protest a rape, nor can it be in fear of immediate an unlawful bodily injury. The essential of guilt of rape consists in the outrage to the peron and feelings of rape victim," it observed.

The sexual intercourse on a dead body is nothing but necrophilia, which is a morbid fascination with death and the dead and more particularly, an erotic attraction to corpses, the court said. "Utmost, it can be considered as sadism, necrophilia, and there is no offence made out to punish under 376 of the IPC," it added.

Unfortunately in India no specific legislation has been enacted including under the provisions of IPC for the purpose of upholding dignity and protecting rights and crime against the dead body of the woman, the court observed.

"Therefore the provisions of section 377 of the IPC, unfortunately does not include the term 'dead body', thereby there is no offence made out to punish such persons who committed sexual intercourse on the dead body of the woman. Therefore the provisions of section 376 of IPC would not attract," it argued.

In the absence of any provision attracting the offence under the provisions of IPC, it is high time for the central government to amend the provisions of section 377 of IPC and include the dead body of men, women or animals, to ensure dignity of the dead person including women, the court said.

The central government can also introduce a separate provision as an offence against dead women as necrophilia or sadism has been done in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, it stated.

However, the court found the appellant guilty of murder based on the finding of a blood-stained weapon and clothes from his home, as well as a failure to explain incriminating circumstances.

"The evidence on record clearly establishes that, based on the aforesaid circumstances, the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of homicidal death of the deceased," it decided. (UNI)