Nikee Singh, B.A.LLB (Hon.) & Akriti, Assistant Professor of Law, Lovely Professional University & Ph.D. Scholar, WBNUJS
ABSTRACT
Right to life is a concept known and understood by all. Recently after the famous Aadhar judgement we have come to understand that a human life with dignity is a necessity, without dignity human life ceases to have value. It is this concept that brings us to the realization that the manner in which dignity is a necessity for humans during their life time, similarly it is important even after death. The goal of this paper is to determine the Human Rights of a dead body as well as to shift the focus of the readers towards another important issue – lack of criminal laws for abusers of a dead body. Article 21 and Article 25 of the Constitution of India talk about proper funeral rights to a dead person whereas an abuse to the dead body of an individual is dealt under Chapter XVI of the Indian Penal Code. But none of the penal laws directly address the abuse committed against a dead body. This paper has found that even though these unfair treatments towards the dead have always been present but it only came under the focus of the media and the public when humanity suffered the blow of an unprecedented pandemic of Covid-19.
