DESECRATION OF A CORPSE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1065, 25 April 1882, Page 4

DESECRATION OF A CORPSE.

Considerable sensation has been caused in Plymouth by the publication of particulars concerning an alleged desecration of a corpse at the South Devon Hospital. It appears that an inquest was held on the body of a woman, who had met her death in a somewhat singular manner. A post mortem examination was conducted which established the fact that the cause of death was excessive eating, and a verdict to this effect was returned. At the conclusion of the enquiry the friends of the deceased were informed that they might obtain her body on application at the hospital, and in the evening they proceeded there with several neighbours to convey it home. They were told that the body had not been sewn up after the post mortem examination, and the undertaker remarked that it would be a great convenience if delivery of the body could be accomplished that evening, as he might not be again able to get so many men to carry the corpse home. The man in charge of the mortuary thereupon proceeded with a lantern, and bade the bearers follow him to the mortuary. There they found the body lying outstretched on the operating table, with a covering over it. To the horror of the spectators the man coolly threw off the covering, exposing the corpse, in a complete state of nudity. He then took a needle, and in the sight of the bearers proceeded rapidly to sew up the abdomen and chest in various directions. The sickening sight compelled some of CTie bearers to quit the scene, and those who remained protested that the treatment was outrageous. The man replied that the dead had no feelings; and the body was then removed. The indignation in the locality is deep and general, and an enquiry is demanded.