WHEN SEX PERVERSIONS LEAD TO ACCIDENTAL HANGING

 This time I am going to tell you about an extremely interesting case, which had completely baffled all police experts. On 24.11.1994, I was called to a scene of death. It was a dense forest on the outskirts of Delhi. A 22 year old male, who was later identified as Pyarelal, was found hanging from the branch of a tree. Both his knees were on the ground. This in itself was not abnormal or baffling. What had baffled the police, was the fact that his penis was exposed. It was coming out of the fly of his pants which was open.(Please reproduce fig. 3 on page 164 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977). On the ground was lying a sex magazine, showing the photographs of some nude girls. To all intents and purposes, it appeared that it was a sexual revenge murder. The police had definitely ruled out suicide. It is understandable that no suicidal patient would ever commit suicide in such an embarrassing position. In fact, it is well-known to all police officers and forensic experts alike that ladies who commit suicide by drowning take care to tie their saris near the legs. This is done, because otherwise the water frequently lifts up the sari, exposing their genitals, and no lady, even after death, wants to be exposed in that way.

Inspector Matadeen had formed a hypothetical story like this. Pyarelal must be a flirt. He must be carrying on an affair with some girl of the locality. Her brother or some other relative may be against this relationship. They must have asked him to refrain from this activity. Pyarelal must not have paid any attention to this. So they murdered him and then hanged him from the branch of the tree, exposing his genitals. This could be a symbolic revenge for them, showing everyone what led him to his final undoing!

To be sure, cases like this are not uncommon. I have seen some similar cases, but in those cases the culprits had amputated the penis of the deceased and inserted it in his own mouth! This act shows the utter contempt the killers bore in mind for the deceased's sexual excesses.

When Matadeen made enquiries, it was found that Pyare had indeed made sexual advances towards a local girl Sarita. She was considered one of the sexiest girls of the locality. She had not heeded to his advances, and had even complained to her brother Ramdayal, who was something of a local goon. Ramdayal had once beaten Pyarelal very badly and had sworn to kill him if he saw him making advances towards his sister again.

Ramdayal was called at once and enquiries made. All evidence was against him. Many people of the locality affirmed that he was a local goon, and had once beaten Pyarelal very badly. They said that once he had even sworn to kill Pyarelal in front of every one. However Ramdayal pleaded total ignorance. The police was about to take him to their infamous torture chamber, when I arrived at the scene.

When I saw the scene, I was sure at once that it was not a case of murder. There had to be great disturbance around, had it been a case of murder, but the surroundings were quite normal and undisturbed. There were several other factors which made me come to that conclusion. If the police were thinking on the lines of murder, it was because they were entirely unaware of an entity known as sexual hanging.

Sexual hanging is a very baffling kind of phenomenon which has not been understood in its entirety till now. To understand it let us dwell on a few vital facts first. If someone restricts the entry of air in his lungs (either by conscious stoppage or respiration, or by enclosing the face by a plastic bag), his blood will receive a lesser supply of oxygen. This state is technically known as anoxia (no oxygen) or hypoxia (less oxygen). It is a well-known fact that during a state of anoxia or hypoxia, a person can enjoy sexual pleasure much more intensely. Why this happens is not very clearly understood however. Some people, especially males, come to know of this fact quite accidentally or may be through some friends. They can then induce hypoxia by putting a noose round their neck, and then relaxing their body in such a way that part of the body weight comes to rest on the noose. The noose constricts the neck, producing a state of hypoxia. The person then masturbates, looking at pictures of nude women. Once the masturbatory act is over, these people remove the noose from their neck and go back to their work. Their intention is never to kill themselves. It is only to enjoy heightened sensations of sex during hypoxic states. These persons usually return to that place the next day and masturbate again, making the same complicated arrangements. A sexual deviant may go on repeating this practice for years! Sometimes however quite accidentally the pressure on the neck increases, and the person may die inadvertently. Thus sexual hanging is neither a case of murder nor of suicide. It is a case of accidental hanging.

Sometimes, the victim ties himself up in quite a complicated fashion, and then masturbates (Please reproduce fig. 2 on page 163 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977). In this figure, the person has used a dog leash and collar straps for suspension. Towels were found folded over the penis and scrotum and a collar strap was buckled about his wrists which were behind his back. Such person are suffering from a special sexual perversion known as sexual bondage. They derive pleasure in sex only after they have been tied up. Sometimes the legs may be tied up in a complicated fashion (please reproduce fig. 6 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977). In this figure you can also see a towel beneath the underpants.

Besides tying themselves up, some people cover their faces with rubberized sheets (Please reproduce fig. 4 and fig. 5 on page 165 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977). This produces additional hypoxia.

The main problem in these cases is to differentiate whether these cases were of suicide, murder or sexual hanging. The scene of sexual asphyxia is always some quiet place, (as in the case of Pyarelal) where the complicated preparations for an act can be made without fear of discovery or disturbance. Careful examination of the scene will reveal evidence that it has been used for similar purposes in the past. This evidence may be in the form of `grooving' of a wooden beam from which a rope has been suspended. As we have seen, some of these victims have been carrying such activity for years. Repeated acts of hanging themselves may produce this `grooving' which we have just talked about. In a similar manner, if the hanging used to be done from pipes, there may be scraping away of paintwork from pipes.

The paraphernalia (Please reproduce fig. 9 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977) of these perverts is quite interesting. It includes protective pads, straps, hooks and even parachute rigging. Sometimes hooks are also found at the scene. This also indicates the practice of sexual hanging (Please reproduce fig. 7 and fig. 8 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977). In these photographs you can see a victim suspended from hooks!

In the case of Pyarelal, the diagnosis of sexual hanging was not difficult to make. The penis was extruding through the pants, which made me suspicious at once. But what clinched the issue was the presence of a nude magazine near his feet. When I searched the scene, I could recover a bag, in which Pyarelal's sexual paraphernalia was lying. I gave the verdict of sexual hanging, and Ramdayal was released. Ramdayal came to me and told me that I had saved his life, otherwise he was sure to go to the gallows. On that day I realized how useful science can be!