4. Bodily Injury, Robbery, and Theft Dependent on Fetichism.
(Austrian, § 190; German, § 249 [robbery]. Austrian, § 171, 460; German, § 242 [theft].)
It is seen from the section on fetichism, under “General Pathology,” that pathological fetichism may become the cause of crimes. There are now recognized, as such, hair-despoiling (Cases 78, 79, 80); robbery or theft of female linen, handkerchiefs, aprons (Cases 82, 83, 85, 86), shoes (Cases 68, 87, 88), and silks (Case 93). It cannot be doubted that such individuals are subjects of deep mental taint. But, for the assumption of an absence of mental freedom and consequent irresponsibility, it must be proved that there was an irresistible impulse, which, either owing to the strength of the impulse itself, or to the existence of mental weakness, made control of the punishable, perverse impulsion impossible. Such crimes and the peculiar manner in which they are performed,—in which they differ very much from common robbery and theft,—always demand a medico-legal examination. But that the act per se does not, by any means, necessarily arise from psycho-pathological conditions is shown by the infrequent cases of hair-despoiling[[136]] simply for the purpose of gain.