Concealed Homicides

Authors

  • Hemant Kumar Kanwar Senior Resident, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Antara DebBarma Senior Resident, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Arijit Dey Senior Resident,Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Abhishek Yadav Assistant Professor,Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Sudhir K Gupta 5Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, AIIMS, New Delhi

Keywords:

Postmortem Burns, Concealed Homicide, Perimortem Burn

Abstract

In Medico-legal autopsies conducted routinely in death due to thermal injury, the absence of  ante-mortem signs of burns on the body of the deceased is evidence enough for it to be a post mortem burn. In most of the cases, the postmortem burns are a result of an afterthought, mainly to  conceal the true crime. Such burns are done in the perimortem period, making the diagnosis during  autopsy more difficult. The charring present in the post-mortem burns makes the diagnosis more  dubious. The post-mortem burning of the body is a phenomenon repeated again and again by the  assailants to hide the findings of the antemortem homicidal attack, thus misleading the investigators  of law. The ignorance, lack of experience or misinterpretation by a Forensic Pathologist conducting  the autopsy may misguide the investigation agencies. We report two such cases where the bodies  were burnt to conceal the true crime and also the identity of the individual. A thorough postmortem  examination revealed the true nature of crime in both instances. 

Published

2019-01-03

How to Cite

Concealed Homicides . (2019). Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine, 40(4), 428–431. Retrieved from https://acspublisher.com/journals/index.php/jiafm/article/view/7805