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.

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%).