NMC withdraws guidelines listing lesbianism as offence

The National Medical Commission on Thursday withdrew and cancelled guidelines under Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum in which it had reintroduced sodomy and lesbianism as unnatural sexual offences in the forensic medicine and toxicology curriculum for undergraduate medical students.

The guidelines were issued on August 31.

"It is informed that the Circular of even number dated 31.08.2024 thereby issuing Guidelines under Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum (CBME) 2024, stands 'withdrawn and cancelled' with immediate effect. The above guidelines will be revised and uploaded in due course," the National Medical Commission (NMC) said.

Besides sodomy and lesbianism, the NMC had brought back topics such as the hymen and its type, and its medico-legal importance in addition to defining virginity and defloration, legitimacy and its medico-legal importance. These subjects were done away with in 2022 in accordance with a Madras high court directive.

The revised curriculum under forensic medicine and toxicology also includes 'Describe legal competencies including Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA)' besides 'Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), Civil and Criminal Cases, Inquest (Police Inquest and Magistrate's Inquest), and cognisable and non-cognisable offences'.

It talks about discussing sexual perversions, fetishism, transvestism, voyeurism, sadism, necrophagia, masochism, exhibitionism, frotteurism and necrophilia. However, distinctions between consensual sex between queer individuals have been removed, a source said.

The amended curriculum has done away with the seven-hour training on disability.

At the end of teaching-learning in forensic medicine and toxicology, the student should be able to understand the medico-legal framework of medical practice, codes of conduct, medical ethics, professional misconduct and medical negligence, conducting medico-legal examination and documentation of various medico-legal cases and understand latest Acts and laws related to medical professional including related court judgments, the NMC said in its document.