Correlation between maximum femoral length and epicondylar breadth and its application in stature estimation: A population specific study in Indian Bengali Males.

Stature is an important data for identification. Stature of an individual can be estimated from measurement of long bones with the help of established formulae. This method is in practice since 1899. Estimation of stature from bones has anthropological and forensic importance. Changes in the pattern of crime and steady increase in the number of homicides have made these works important and valuable for the administration of law. Excavation of graves, mass casualties and cases where grossly mutilated skeletal remains are found, become difficult and challenging for both the forensic pathologist and physical anthropologist. In India, exposed and unidentified dead bodes are often mutilated by wild animals gnawing the skeletal remains. Bone fragments, often with ends destroyed, are brought for forensic examination. Further, those formulae for long bones are population specific, and also depend on the condition of the available bones. The present study makes an attempt to establish the correlation between epicondylar breadth and maximum femoral length and subsequently its application in stature estimation in Indian Bengali population.