What drives a necrophile?

On the afternoon of November 20, I saw that my Facebook feed is flooded with the horrific news of a morgue worker arrested for having sex with corpses at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in Dhaka.

Arrested 20-year-old Munna Vhakta had been working in the morgue for the last two years. He had engaged in these heinous acts at least five times from March 2019 to August 2020.

Sexual intercourse with dead bodies or corpses is known by many names: necrophilia, necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia. It is considered a serious crime and psychological disorder.

Now, the question is, is necrophilia merely a psychological disorder? 

I have tried my level best to find out the root causes of necrophilia and discuss its possible remedies.

Most necrophiles are usually heterosexual males and they fall between the ages of twenty and fifty. Some necrophiles try to manage jobs at mortuaries where they have easy access to dead bodies.

There are different motivations behind this disturbing behaviour. Firstly, the need to have sex with dead bodies usually comes from an extreme fear of interacting with potential living partners. Necrophiles think that dead bodies are physically, mentally, and emotionally non-threatening. This allows them an easier channel for expression, sexual fascination, and sexual acts. 

Secondly, necrophiles may enjoy full control of feelings in sexual intercourse with corpses because corpses cannot reject or disagree with them. Thirdly, necrophiles suffer from a lack of sexual inhibitions, self-esteem, social recognition, or general regret for the penalties of their activities. 

Lastly, the habit of taking the excessive drug may develop a fantasy of sex with a corpse. They may consider sexual activities with dead bodies as loving and warm, that allow a reunion with a departed loving partner.

As necrophilia is a kind of mental disorder as well as a repulsive crime, different pragmatic steps should be taken to remove it from society.

A necrophile needs to be treated for an impaired social and sexual relationship to return to normal life. We can use the desensitization technique - a behavioural technique whereby a person is gradually exposed to an anxiety-producing object, event, or place while being engaged in some type of relaxation at the same time to reduce the symptoms of anxiety - to help grow direct interest in a living partner. The use of sex drive reducing medication can also help to prohibit erotic attraction to corpses.

Finally, the government should take proper steps to ensure that necrophiles are punished for their abhorrent activities.

Md Hafez, Assistant Professor, School of Business, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Email: [email protected].

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.