Beyond the grave: Exposing honor killing through carbofuran detection with GC-MS

Abstract

Honor killing is quite common worldwide and more than 5000 women are murdered every year. Most of the homicidal death cases of honor killing are misreported as suicides or accidental. Due to lack of awareness, especially in developing countries, autopsy is not conducted even in suspicious deaths, and murderers abscond free. This case study is an example in which a married woman was killed by her in-laws and autopsy was not conducted. Exhumation of the deceased was conducted after approximately three months of burial and specimens were sent to author’s laboratory for forensic toxicological analysis. The modified QuEChERS extraction technique was used to prepare samples for analysis. A gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometer (Agilent-7890A/5975, capillary column DB-5MS, 15 m × 250 µm × 0.25 µm, split-less, run time 14.75 min, scan mode) was used for detection of drugs and poisons in the submitted samples. Carbofuran (˃5 µg/g) and carbofuran phenol (pesticides) were detected in the unidentified tissue mass of the deceased. Poisons, especially carbamate pesticides, are historically used for malicious poisoning. The current study highlights the importance of autopsy as well as forensic toxicological and pathological examination in provision of justice, especially in cases of suspicious deaths.