Karnataka HC : "Hospital employees engaging in sexual activity with young women's dead bodies"

Every public and private hospital should uphold the confidentiality of clinical records and have a system in place to protect information about the deceased, particularly in situations that are stigmatised and subject to social criticism, like HIV and suicidal cases.

The general public and tourists should not be able to see the post mortem room directly.

The staff in both public and private hospitals have to be educated on how to manage a dead body and interact sensitively with the deceased's companions. The Karnataka High Court mandated on Tuesday that all public and private hospitals in the state have CCTV cameras installed in their mortuaries to stop "offences against the dead bodies of women." The Karnataka government has been given six months to make sure the instructions are fulfilled.

The Karnataka High Court division bench stated during the hearing of a murder and necrophilia case: "It is brought to our notice that in most government and private hospitals where the dead bodies, especially those of young women, are kept in the mortuary, the attendant who is appointed to guard them has sexual intercourse with the dead body."

1. In light of this, the Karnataka High Court ruled that it is past time for the state government to take steps to prevent such atrocities like this from occurring and uphold the honour of the murdered ladies.

2. The High Court division bench of Justices B Veerappa and Venkatesh Naik urged the Centre to create a new law criminalising necrophilia in India, saying that "unfortunately there is no specific law against necrophilia in India."

3. In light of this, the state government has been instructed as follows by the high court:

4. Within six months of the date of the order, the state government shall ensure that CCTV cameras are installed in all public and private hospitals' mortuaries to deter crimes against women's corpses.

5. In order to preserve the dead in a proper, clean atmosphere, the government should make sure that mortuary hygiene is maintained by routine mopping and cleaning of the mortuary.