The Invisible Offence: Legal Silence On Cannibalism In The Indian Criminal Justice System
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Jyoti Tripathi, Advocate
ABSTRACT
While cannibalism, or anthropophagy, is universally regarded as a profound violation of the human collective conscience, it remains a "legal ghost" within modern criminal statutes. This research argues that society’s deep- seated moral revulsion has led to a state of psychological denial, causing a significant gap in legal codification despite the persistent emergence of such cases from the global controversies of the Epstein files to the harrowing, forgotten details of the Nithari killings. History demonstrates that the law often begins in silence; grave offenses such as slavery, human trafficking, and domestic violence were once legally unrecognised or insufficiently regulated until their horrific reality forced a statutory evolution.
This article contends that cannibalism is currently at a similar jurisprudential crossroads. By exploring the complex etiology of the act—ranging from structural neurobiology to pathological and situational triggers—the study highlights the dangerous inadequacy of current laws that fail to recognize cannibalism as a distinct felony. The author asserts that humankind must move beyond its "mental unreadiness" to define this horror, advocating for the explicit criminalisation of anthropophagy with a focus on deterrent punishment. Furthermore, the paper proposes a preventive ecosystem rooted in psychological assessment and counseling to mitigate the social alienation that drives such deviance. Ultimately, this research calls for a structured legal transition to ensure that these extreme violations of human dignity are met with the accountability and protection they demand.
