No, cannibalism is not legal in India at all. Sure, there are no specific laws stating directly that it is illegal, but there are indirect laws that consider it a great offense and the punishment can be serious.
What’s the Story Of Cannibalism in India?
Cannibalism, a very controversial topic, can be found also in India and yes, in the past, it has been the case that certain tribes and religious groups have engaged in cannibalism as part of their ultimate beliefs. Out of these, the Aghori sadhus are the most well-known, you know? They are members of Shaivism and live beside cremation grounds, they use human corpses as a part of their ritual sometimes, and that’s kinda what a lot of people believe in India. In some practices that Aghori sadhus perform, they believe that by eating dead human flesh, they can achieve spiritual enlightenment, which means breaking the barriers of the cycle of life and death. These are the reasons why these practices have become a matter of heated debate in society bringing ethical and legal issues to light.
Is Eating People Even Allowed by Law?
India is a country that has its own set of laws, and a law against cannibalism is not one of them. But why not? Well, to be clear, this does not mean that such an act is allowed as per the law and anyone can do it. Nah, it doesn’t work like that. You see, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has laws that cover the various aspects of cannibalism that come under grave crimes, like killing, digging, and desecration of graves.
Just so you know, if a death occurs and the intent is to consume the remains, that would be classified as murder under Section 302 of the IPC, which would result in a life sentence or possibly a death sentence. The act of digging somebody’s grave for the express purpose of consumption is covered under Section 297, which is about grave trespassing.
Thus, although cannibalism is not a straight-out illegal act, its associated actions are, like murder or grave tampering, which is very serious and the government does not handle it lightly, so keep that in mind.
Has Cannibalism Actually Happened in India?
As gruesome as it may sound, a handful of incidents of cannibalism making headlines in India’s history is something that has happened, and you should know about these cases. Amongst them, the Nithari incident which took place around the mid-2000s in Noida stands out as particularly notorious, you know? At the time, as it was reported, numerous children and women had been murdered. Moreover, the parts of the victims were stowed in the houses of the culprits, making such news reach the national level due to the horrendous nature of the killings and the acquired cannibalistic accusations. And sure, the judges in this case gave death sentences to the criminals involved in this.
In 2022, another horrifying account came to light in Kerala, you know, the so-called Kerala Human Sacrifice case. It was alleged that there had been two women murdered, and the parts of their bodies had been altered and used in dark rituals. Since that was pretty recent, many of you may have heard of it, right?
