Suicidio por estrangulación a lazo. Presentación de un caso atípico / Suicide by loop knot strangulation. Presentation of an atypical case

En Medicina Legal los especialistas se enfrentan a diario con fallecidos que presentan como causa directa de muerte la asfixia mecánica producida por la constricción del cuello, que produce el dogal utilizado en cada caso. La constricción cervical puede ser por ahorcamiento y por estrangulación manual o a lazo. En esta ocasión, se presentó el caso de una anciana de 69 años, que, según datos aportados por la instrucción policial, fue encontrada en su domicilio, y presentaba como signo de violencia en la región del cuello un surco horizontal, de 3 cm de ancho en su parte posterior, de superficie blanda, poco profundo, dirigido de detrás hacia delante, que se interrumpía en la parte anterior del cuello, lo cual corresponde con la posición del nudo. Tenía antecedentes de trastornos psiquiátricos, lo cual justifica su actuación, resultando ser un individuo con incapacidad de adoptar normas de convivencia adecuadas al medio sociocultural en el que se desarrollaba, mostrando con frecuencia tendencias a la depresión.

In Legal Medicine specialists find everyday dead people whose direct cause of death is mechanical asphyxia by neck constriction produced by the halter used in each case. Cervical constriction may be caused by hanging or by hand or loop knot strangulation. This time we presented the case of an elder woman aged 69 years who, according to data brought by police instruction, was found home presenting, as a violence sign, a slightly deep horizontal line in the neck, 3 cm width in its back part, with soft surface, directed from the back to the front, interrupted in the neck frontal part, in correspondence with the knot position. She had antecedents of psychiatric disturbances, justifying her behavior; she was an individual unable to adopt life norms fitting the socio-cultural environment where she used to live, frequently showing tendencies to depression.

Rape, sodomy and murder of a minor girl.

In this short case of article on typical sexual assault, a 14 year old minor girl was killed and found in a ditch of a jungle nearby her house. The minor girl has died as a consequence of barbarous act of sexual assault, sustained bruises on labia, recent hymnal tears, and tears around anus with signs of ligature strangulation besides the generalized signs of asphyxia. The wearing garments were found torn at places with the presence of stains of mad and sand particles. The laboratory findings confirm presence of spermatozoa. The presence of marks of violence on the genitals of the child, when an early examination is made is the strong evidence that the sexual assault has been committed. The psychiatric analysis of all the accused of this kind of cases should be made mandatory for better assessment of the cases besides an active legislative and judicial actions, comprehensive quick approaches of investigative officers and healthcare providers.

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.

Female infanticide.

Killing infant girls is something most of us cannot imagine. As shocking and disturbing as this behavior is, however, we must look at in within its cultural context. In some Indian communities there is a preference for male children. This attitude is rooted in a complex set of social, cultural and economic factors. Daughters will require a sizable financial dowry in order to marry. This dowry system, lack of economic independence, social customs and traditions has relegated the female to a secondary status. Because daughters leave their families of origin, they are often regarded as temporary members of their families and a drain on its wealth. There is an expression in India that ―bringing up a daughter is like watering a neighbor‘s plant‖. In most of such cases of female infanticide the perpetrator is the mother of the infant. Here we are highlighting a case where a new born female was suspected to have been brutally killed by her parent.

Review of Mechaincal Asphyxia of the Neck: Fatal Pressure on the Neck: The Central District of National Institute of Scientific Investigation / 대한법의학회지

Mechanical asphyxia of the neck(hanging, ligature strangulation, manual strangulation and combined deaths) provides one of the most complex and controversial areas of 'asphyxial' deaths. To better understand the presentation of such cases, we reviewed retrospectively forensic autopsy files of the Central District Office, National Institute of Scientific Investigation from June 1, 2000, through June 31, 2003 for all such cases. A total of 80 cases were found; hanging 37 cases(46.3%), ligature strangulation 9 cases(11.2%), manual strangulation 25 cases(31.3%) and combined deaths 9 cases(11.2%). Economic problem was one of most frequent motives. Petechiae were present in the conjunctivae and/or sclerae in 37.5% of hanging cases, 100.0% of ligature strangulation cases, 88.8% of manual strangulation cases and 88.9% of combined deaths cases; fractures of the hyoid and/or thyroid cartilage were most frequently present in manual strangulation(52.0%). All children under 10 years old were killed by their parents. Fifty-nine percent of the victims had been subjected to additional violence. Twenty-six percent of victims had blood alcohol.