Germany. A 21-year-old man was found hanging in a stairwell. A noose ran around the neck, ascending to the left occipital region. Feet were touching the ground and the knees were bent. An overturned chair lay next to the body. The man wore a “French Maid” costume but no underwear. Upon inspection of the deceased’s room, the packaging of the maid’s dress and various sex toys were found. Possibly an autoerotic death.
Fig.1
Autoerotic death refers to the accidental death of individuals of either sex due to failure of devices, or unexpected effects of materials, that were being used to enhance the sexual experience. Although asphyxia from hanging has been described most frequently, a wide variety of other lethal situations have been reported. As there is great variability in the number and types of sexual aids that may be used by individuals, careful death scene examination is essential in helping to exclude suicide and more rarely homicide. The clandestine nature of this paraphilia may, however, make subsequent identification and diagnosis difficult unless the death scene features are typical. This is particularly so in the rare cases involving women.
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