Pitt Students Accused of Abusing Cadavers

Students in an anatomy lab class at the University of Pittsburgh were taught about handling cadavers in a respectful manner, but two students allegedly went on to do the opposite. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Amay Gupta and Sonel Jimenez, both 19, were charged this month with one count each of abusing a corpse over what allegedly occurred during a Nov. 4 class. Per the complaints against them, Gupta allegedly made sexual comments about a male cadaver as he put his fingers inside the chest area; Jimenez allegedly smirked and made comments while "using his fingers to violate a female cadaver," as CBS Pittsburgh puts it.

"While incidents of misconduct by individuals are extremely rare, the university has robust oversight in place to ensure that any allegation of misuse or mistreatment of donated tissue is swiftly investigated and addressed, as is happening in this case," the university said in a statement, per the Post-Gazette. Some 80 corpses are donated annually from a Pennsylvania nonprofit. The school has an office specifically tasked with "ensur[ing] these generous gifts are treated with the utmost care and respect, and to support investigations" into any allegations of cadaver mistreatment, which Pitt says were last made roughly 40 years ago. Gupta and Jimenez have preliminary hearings scheduled for January. (More cadaver stories.)