Necrophilia and Indian Penal Law: A Doctrinal Study on lacunae and the Need for Specific Criminalization.

Necrophilia represents one of the most extreme forms of deviant behavior: it goes against common morality and raises posthumous dignity concerns. the Indian system of law does not spell out an explicit penal provision against necrophilia. The Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 297, provides the distant remedy of acts insult the feelings of the dead or trespass on burial places. Not much is provided about it in the current Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The paper conducts doctrinal and jurisprudential investigations into the necrophilia’s legal position in India. It probes into whether the provisions are adequate, with the absence of specific interpretation posing its own set of difficulties and analyzing the larger picture of whether this silence harms constitutional guarantees-wise, the right to dignity after death under Article 21 of the Constitution. Alongside, it studies judicial pronouncements and parliamentary intent in defining life-dignity interests that govern criminal law with respect to the protection of the deceased. With these gaps revealed in the study on doctrinal and normative grounds, the paper argues against an outright statutory enactment on the issue of necrophilia. This exercise shall enhance legal clarity and shall act as a tool to bring more cases of necrophilia to prosecution, hence, bringing to the core the Indian legal system's acknowledgment of human dignity even after death. The paper concludes with some recommendations on legislative reform concerning constitutional morality and contemporary standards of criminal justice.