Selected Aspects of the Crime of Necrophilia

Somandi, Siphuxolo

Title: Selected Aspects of the Crime of Necrophilia
Creator: Somandi, Siphuxolo
Subject: Rape
Subject: Necrophilia
Subject: Crime of Necrophilia
Date Issued: 2022-12
Date: 2022-12
Type: Master's theses
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/60421
Identifier: vital:64874
Description: The treatise begins by defining rape pre and post-Constitution. Through the analysis of the latter, it refers to the Masiya case, particularly in light of extending the definition of rape to align it with the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights. It further focuses on the rights that Masiya identified as being infringed upon whenever the act of rape occurs. The treatise thereafter discusses the crime of committing sexual acts with a corpse, formerly known as necrophilia. It argues that not all sexual acts with a corpse are committed with the sole purpose of having sexual intercourse with a "corpse". For an illustration of the latter, the treatise categorises the circumstances of sexual acts committed with corpses into Categories A and B and uses cases in each Category as an aid. Some of the sexual acts by perpetrators begin with the sole purpose of rape but because the rape cannot be achieved due to the resistance of the victim, the perpetrator has no choice but to overcome the resistance of the victim, which in the context of this treatise means killing the victim. The perpetrator thereafter proceeds with what was initially intended, the rape of the victim. However, in the cases considered, the perpetrator is saved by expert evidence to the effect that the victim was dead at the time of penetration and therefore the perpetrator in addition to being convicted for murder is convicted of committing a sexual act with a corpse. The treatise thus argues that not all sexual acts with a corpse are committed with the sole purpose of having sexual intercourse with the corpse. The treatise highlights the fact that a sexual act with a corpse is a crime of intention. The differing circumstances in which the said crime is committed carries with it a difference in intention and thus should be criminalised differently. This is particularly so when one considers that expert evidence is used to confirm whether or not the victim was dead or alive at the time of the sexual penetration. This confirms that the perpetrator could not have known that the victim was dead at the time of penetration and thus for all intents and purposes, the perpetrator believed he is raping the victim, who he considers to be alive. he treatise thus argues that the perpetrator cannot be saved by expert evidence that surmises that the perpetrator intended to have sexual intercourse with a corpse, the intention that the perpetrator did not carry at the time of committing the crime. The treatise further argues that because rape has been identified as a crime that infringes on human rights, these rights are not extinguished by death thus the same rights are infringed by sexual acts with a corpse. With the aid of some international authorities, the treatise argues that a Category B sexual act committed with a corpse could be criminalised under attempted rape.
Description: Thesis (LLM) -- Faculty of Law, Department of Criminal and Procedural Law, 2022
Format: computer
Format: online resource
Format: application/pdf
Format: 1 online resource (76 pages)
Format: pdf
Publisher: Nelson Mandela University
Publisher: Faculty of Law
Language: English
Rights: Nelson Mandela University
Rights: All Rights Reserved
Rights: Open Access

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