This is an odd news story. A woman from Rio De Janeiro, Clenilda da Silva, a 49-year-old babysitter, had died of a totally normal heart attack. Her family was devastated, and they held a wake for her a couple of days later.

    It is pretty widely known that Rio De Janeiro has one of the highest murder rates around, mainly due to frequent clashes between gangs and the police. There are lots of innocent bystanders being caught in the middle of shootouts, and other generally grizzly happenings.

     But it was in her casket at her wake where Ms Da Silva fell victim to her own tragic run in with these vicious gangs.

     She was shot.

     In the pelvis.

     At her funeral.

     It’s a little bit funny. I mean, the authorities just went ahead and buried her anyway, because I guess there is still, you know, nothing you can do.

     So this brings me to today’s question. Is it illegal to kill someone, who is already dead? Is it assault? Destruction of property? If so, who owns the dead? Are there laws to cover this kind of thing? I would be surprised if the legislature of Rio De Janeiro were so forward thinking as to make doing a drive by on a dead person illegal. Surely it’s in bad taste, especially during the wake, upsetting the family and everything, but still, she was already dead.