The Necrophilia Debate
Necrophilia is the behavior of being sexually attracted to corpses. The word Necrophilia is derived from the Greek word nekros (meaning ‘corpse’ ) and philia (meaning ‘friendship’). Individuals who exhibit such behavior, are said to have an desire to possess an unresisting partner, or are sexually attracted to corpses. Necrophilia has been practiced in many cultures around the world, sometimes as an attempt to revive the recently departed, or according to some belief to help an unmarried woman find peace. It was believed that a dead virgin would not find rest, until someone performed a marriage ceremony, and had intercourse with her dead body.
There have been many cases of Necrophilia, where the corpses of dead women were defiled by the mortuary attendants, or graveyard guards. Even in ancient Egypt it was the norm to let the bodies of young women decompose for a few days, before handing them over to the embalmers. This was done, so as to prevent the embalmers from having sexual intercourse with the corpses. There have also been recorded cases where the husband or lover, stored the bodies of the women they loved, because they were too attached to her, and were unwilling to let her go. In a recent case in India, that made headlines. A girl was killed by her lover in a Lodge, and then he and his friend took turns having intercourse with her dead body.
Sexual intercourse with a corpse is illegal under the sexual offences act, so as is Necrophilia pornography which is described as extreme pornography by the Government. However it has been argued that Necrophilia is not such an unethical act, since there have been many religious beliefs that have supported it. And since non-consensual invasion of the dead woman’s body, while embalming is not considered to be unethical, Necrophilia should not be seen as illegal. This view has been challenged vehemently by those who say that Necrophilia should be considered as a form of rape, since if the woman had been alive she would not have given the abuser permission to defile her body.
