autopsy study of asphyxial deaths

ABSTRACT

The study includes autopsy examination of 132 cases of asphyxial deaths, brought by the police at Department of Forensic Medicine, K.E.M.U., Lahore during the year 2002, 2003 and 2004. The study revealed that the female to male ratio was 23 and individuals in the third decade of life are maximally involved. The ligature was a single loop in 77.7% of the cases and multiple in 22.3% of the cases. The most frequent non-specific asphyxial signs were congestion [72.7% of the cases] and petecheal haemorrhages [78%] cases. The hyoid bone was fractured in 22.7% cases. The associated injuries found were, physical and sexual in nature in 65% of the cases examined