Abstract
BackgroundIn forensic investigations of death cases in which the body has been recovered from a water body, there is an urgent need to prove whether the death is due to drowning or not. Moreover, another important issue arises, whether a person was alive at the time of drowning (anti-mortem drowning) or he was thrown dead into the water body (post-mortem drowning) To answer these questions, phytoplankton species of forensic importance from two water bodies (Braham Sarovar and Prithus Pools) were analyzed to develop the Phytoplankton maps (P-maps). The P-maps are basically a detailed list of categories of species which are common, site-specific, rare and seasonally occurring phytoplanktons along with their photomicrographs.MethodsIn the present study, water samples have been collected from Braham Sarovar and Prithus Pools situated at Kurukshetra area of Haryana state, India. The phytoplankton species present in both ponds were extracted by mild acid digestion (5% HCl). The physico-chemical properties of these water bodies such as pH, water temperature, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, hardness, alkalinity, calcium, sodium, potassium, and chloride ions have been recorded to establish a correlation with the distribution of phytoplankton using principal component analysis.ResultsTotal 138 species of 59 genera of phytoplanktons belonging to Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Euglenophyceae and Dinophyceae have been observed. In Braham Sarovar, Cylindrospermum sp., Epithemia turgida, Eunotia rhomboidea, and Westella botryoides were the site-specific phytoplanktons whereas in Prithus pool, the site specific phytoplanktons were Leptolynbya granulifera, Arthospira jenerii, Cymbella cymbiformis, Frustulia vulgaris.ConclusionIt is hoped that results/data obtained from the present study (P-maps) may go a long way in solving the mysteries related to the deaths due to drowning and can be usefully used as a reference data for determining the exact site of drowning.
Highlights
In forensic investigations of death cases in which the body has been recovered from a water body, there is an urgent need to prove whether the death is due to drowning or not
The place where actual drowning took place? To answer these questions, a diatom test has been considered to be the best marker of drowning but it confronted with many difficulties and hardships in terms of its reliability
Selection of sampling sites In the present study the following two sites which are situated in Kurukshetra city and Pehowa city of Haryana, India have been selected to collect samples for the analysis of phytoplanktons: Brahma Sarovar It is the largest man-made water body situated in historically important Kurukshetra city, Haryana state, India (29°57′37′′ N 76°50′42.2′′ E)
Summary
In forensic investigations of death cases in which the body has been recovered from a water body, there is an urgent need to prove whether the death is due to drowning or not. A diatom test has been considered to be the best marker of drowning but it confronted with many difficulties and hardships in terms of its reliability. Pollanen (1997) reported highly positive diatom test outcome in the body of drowned victims in the months in which diatom population in the water body was at a peak. This showed variations in the number of diatoms over a period of time in water bodies
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