Incident Overview

Victim: A 39-year-old woman from Belgrade, Serbia.

Discovery: The woman’s ex-husband found her unresponsive in her apartment and contacted the authorities. She was positioned on her left side on the living room couch, with a blanket covering her body.

Subsequent Investigation: Upon arriving, police removed the blanket for a closer inspection. The woman was found naked from the waist down, with no obvious signs of trauma or injury. However, an object was noted protruding from her body: a spring twirl whisk.

This kitchen tool’s wooden handle had been inserted into her anus to a depth of approximately 4 inches (10 cm), acting as what doctors described in a case report as a “dildo-like object.” The ex-husband mentioned that the woman suffered from high blood pressure, or arterial hypertension, and was on medication for it.

Autopsy Results: An examination of her skull revealed a subarachnoid hemorrhage, indicating bleeding between the brain and its protective tissue. Blood accumulation was noted at a depth of about 0.2 inches (6 mm) near the brain’s base.

Further analysis uncovered a ruptured saccular aneurysm, a blood-filled bulge from a blood vessel in the brain. Commonly referred to as a “berry aneurysm” due to its visual resemblance, it measured around 0.4 inches (11 mm) and had torn at its dome. When ruptured, aneurysms can lead to significant brain cell damage and increased intracranial pressure, often causing unconsciousness or death. Notably, these aneurysms are more prevalent in women, particularly in those after menopause and those with low estrogen levels. Individuals with hypertension are also at a greater risk of developing such dangerous aneurysms.

Increased physical activity raises blood pressure, with orgasms causing a notable spike. In her case, the woman’s partial nudity, the way she was positioned, and the presence of the whisk hinted at possible anal self-stimulation. The report’s authors speculated that sexual arousal and resultant orgasm could have led to a temporary rise in her blood pressure, resulting in the aneurysm rupture and subsequent hemorrhage.

Unique Aspects of the Case: Sudden death linked to sexual activity is a rare occurrence. In an extensive analysis of nearly 130,000 forensic autopsies, only 195 cases (0.15%) were associated with sexual activities, and notably, very few involved women. Generally, when someone dies during or shortly after sex, it tends to be an older male with a younger female partner, often due to abrupt cardiac failure.

For women, the typical cause of sudden death during sexual interactions is usually a burst saccular aneurysm. However, this scenario marks the first documented instance of a woman facing such a fate during anal self-stimulation, according to the authors of the report.

This article serves to provide information and is not intended as medical advice.