Estimation of stature from foot outline in adult Malaysian Malayalee ethnics for forensic investigation

Abstract

Identification is a key component in any forensic investigation. Estimation of stature is an identifying characteristics to solve the crime. Foot impression is known to be a valuable scientific evidence encountered in the scenes of crime. Examination of footprint helps in estimation of stature of an individual since there is a strong relationship exists between foot impression and stature. There are people who still have the habit of walking barefoot in Asian countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia. The hard surfaces produce two-dimensional footprints while foot outline provides the size parameters of the fleshed bare foot and also represents the boundaries of the foot’s impression in soft soil, mud, or any other substances that produces a three-dimensional foot impression. It is shown that very limited studies were conducted on stature estimation from foot outline measurements. It is important to note that racial and cultural aspects of foot morphology must be considered while conducting the foot impression study. Researchers have cautioned that regression equations derived to estimate stature from foot impression for a particular population is erroneous to apply for other populations. Thus the present investigation is aimed to derive linear regression equations to estimate stature from foot outlines of Malaysian Malayalee ethnics.