Page:Revised Codes of the State of North Dakota 1895.pdf/1309

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Violating Sepulture, etc.
PENAL CODE.
§§ 7197-7203

ing the duty in his stead, treble the expenses incurred by the latter in making the burial, to be recovered in a civil action.

§ 7197. Who entitled to custody of body. The person charged by law with the duty of burying the body of a deceased person is entitled to the custody of such body for the purpose of burying it; except that in the case in which an inquest is required by law to be held upon a dead body by a coroner, such coroner is entitled to its custody until such inquest has been completed.

§ 7198. Unlawful removal of dead body. Every person is who removes any part of the dead body of a human being from any grave or other place where the same has been buried, or from any place where the same is deposited while awaiting burial, with intent to sell the same or to dissect it without the authority of law, or from malice or wantonness, is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one and not exceeding five years, or in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

§ 7199. Purchasing body forbidden. Every person who purchases or who receives, except for the purpose of burial, any dead body of a human being, knowing that the same has been removed contrary to the last section, is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one and not exceeding five years, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

§ 7200. Unlawfully opening place of burial. Every person who opens any grave or any place of burial, temporary or otherwise, or who breaks open any building wherein any dead body of a human being is deposited while awaiting burial, with intent, either:

1. To remove any dead body of a human being for the purpose of selling the same or for the purpose of dissection: or,

2. To steal the coftin, or any part thereof or anything attached thereto or connected therewith, or the vestments or other articles buried with the same,

Is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one and not exceeding two years, or in a county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

§ 7201. When body removable from cemetery. Whenever a cemetery or other place of burial is lawfully authorized to be removed from one place to another, the right and duty to disinter. remove and rebury the remains of bodies there lying buried, devolves upon the persons named in section 7195, in the order in which they are named, and if they all fail to act, then upon the lawful custodians of the place of burial so removed. Every omission of such duty is punishable in the same manner as other omissions to perform the duty of making burial are made punishable by section 7196.

§ 7202. Arresting or attaching dead body. Every person who arrests or attaches any dead body of a human being upon any debt or demand whatever, or detains or claims to detain it for any debt or demand or upon any pretended lien or charge, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 7203. Disturbing funerals. Every person who willfully disturbs, interrupts or disquiets any assemblage of people met for the purpose of any funeral, or who, without authority of law, obstructs or1275