Electrocution method to conceal homicide A rare case report.

Killing of a human being is one of the most serious or major crimes. Assailants are very keen to conceal crime by different methods, so there may be wrong interpretation by inexperienced autopsy surgeons and hence it may lead to injustice. So it is important that our keen observation and opinion should be conclusive for the administration of justice. In this paper we are presenting a rare case which was brought by police as a case of electrocution. After meticulous autopsy and crime scene visit, the case turned to be of homicidal manner. The cause of death was manual strangulation with head injury and electrical injuries were post-mortem in nature. The deceased was under the influence of alcohol. The necessary investigations like histo-pathological examination also ruled out ante-mortem nature of electric injury. The present paper highlights the importance of meticulous autopsy and crime scene visit for determination of cause and manner of death.

A suicidal hanging with unusual findings at crime scene.

A 42 year old male, was found hanging by a plastic rope in his unbolted bed room. The rope was found attached to two suspension points (one end attached to the window panel and the other side to the ceiling knob) and the middle part of it used for the binding of neck. There was no knot present in the ligature as the right hand was found holding the ligature loop for the purpose of constriction of neck .A towel was found covering the head and underneath the ligature material on the neck used for padding. Blood stain was present on the floor below the suspended body which oozed out from the haemorrhoids. He was holding the cloth, wore in lower half of the body up to the mid thigh label, which appreciated by the authors as cadaveric spasm that developed in his flexor muscles of left hand. Detailed autopsy, crime scene examination and police investigation supported the manner of death as suicidal.

Pattern of ligature mark in cases of compressed neck in Rajkot region: a prospective study.

Ligature mark may be the only evidence available in cases of asphyxial deaths due to either hanging or strangulation. A through examination of the ligature mark and analysis of the information provided by it is therefore, a must to arrive at the most probable cause of death and differentiate between hanging and the ligature strangulation. A prospective study was conducted at the Department of Forensic Medicine, P.D.U. Medical College & Hospital, Rajkot from January 2008 to December 2008. During that period out of 2159 cases, 90 cases of hanging and 7 cases of ligature strangulation were selected for the present study. We found that deaths due to hanging constituted 4.17% of the total unnatural deaths subjected to medicolegal autopsy; young adults of the age group 21 to 30 years accounted for the maximum cases 40% and the male: female ratio was 2:1. Chunni (34.44%) was the most common ligature material used. The mark was obliquely placed (100% cases) above thyroid cartilage (80% cases). In all the cases of ligature strangulation the mark was transverse and below the level of thyroid cartilage.

Pattern of neck findings in suicidal hanging A study in Manipur.

Deaths due to hanging are common among suicides. In a study on 84 cases of suicidal hanging brought for autopsy to the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal during 2004 to 2008, it was observed that 77.38% of the cases were males and 22.62% were females. The highest number of victims was in the age range of 21-40 years. 73.81% of the cases committed suicide indoors and 57.14% of them used ropes as ligature material. 85.75% of the victims had fixed knots with a single turn and 10.71% had slip knots. Complete atypical hanging constituted 88.10% of the cases. 23.81% of the cases had tear of the carotid artery and 3.57% had hyoid fractures. None of the cases had cricoid or trachea fractures. The neck findings vary depending upon the composition, multiplicity and tightness of the ligature material used, the suspension time, type of hanging, etc. Hence, the possible findings in a suspected case of hanging must be always anticipated so as to avoid any erroneous opinion.

Original research paper epidemiological profile of suicide by hanging in southern parts of Kerala: An autopsy based study.

Suicide rate is increasing all over the world; but the rate is disproportionately higher in Kerala. One hundred and eighty one cases of known dead bodies of both genders brought for medico-legal autopsy with history of suicide by hanging, were studied at the Department of Forensic Medicine, State Medico Legal Institute, Government Medical College, Thruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. There was a male preponderance in the study group (71.3%) and majority of males were young or middle aged (82.1%) whereas females were adolescents or young adults (73.1%). Among the males, only 2.3% were farmers. Alcoholism was noted in 75.2% of males. Immediate psychological problems were the reason for suicide in 33.7% of cases, majority of them being married (55.8%). Soft materials, that were easily available, were used as ligatures (48.6%) which were tightened around neck by slip knots (58%) on the sides of neck (53%).

Delayed death in a case of attempted strangulation mechanism of cerebral thrombosis and infarction -A case report.

Throttling is usually a homicidal act and generally the assailant continues the compression until the victim is dead. Pressure applied on the neck for about 3 -4 minutes consistently or more, is considered to be sufficient to cause death; the survival time depending upon the degree and duration of compression of the neck. The death may either be instantaneous or may be delayed for a few hours to a few days but in rare circumstances, the victim may survive, if rescue measures and treatment are promptly instituted. One such case of a male aged about 60 years, who was hospitalized after attempted manual strangulation for about 19 days and died thereafter, is being discussed. Medico legal autopsy findings of such a case are being evaluated in the light of existing literature.