The Hand is an ancient criminal organization that committed a primeval crime by exhuming the body of Elektra Natchios: Body Stealing.
The Hand exhumed the deceased body of Elektra Natchios from her grave at the end of Daredevil season 2 and expounded upon those events in The Defenders episode “Worst Behavior.” This was done without any legal authority. Under New York law, anyone who opens a grave with the intent to remove the body is guilt of a class D felony. N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 4218. The members of the Hand who opened the grave clearly violated this New York law.
Anyone who removes a body with the intent to collect a reward or for malice is guilty of “body stealing,” also a class D felony. N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 4216. The fact members of the Hand exhumed the body was done so for either a reward from Alexandra, arguably the Thumb for the Hand. Alternatively, exhuming the body with the intent of resurrecting Elektra to be the Black Sky would qualify as malice.
Alexandra receiving the dead body of Elektra would be a misdemeanor. N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 4217.
The law does not account for criminal conspiracies using a mystical substance to bring the dead back to life. The Hand arguably participated in an unauthorized autopsy with their black magic, but damages are hard to determine since the deceased returned to life. Perhaps if Matt Murdock or Stick had power of attorney over Elektra, they could sue for wrongful life for all of the mayhem caused by Elektra as the Black Sky.
