Medicolegal characteristics of homicides in Belgrade population

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. Homicide is a destruction of human life, and it essentially conditioned by socio-economic situation in the society. The aim of this study is to analyze the frequency and other significant epidemiological and medicolegal characteristics of homicides in the population of Belgrade. METHODS. An analysis was performed of all homicide cases in which autopsies were performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Belgrade from 2003. to 2005. Data were obtained by using the autopsy records, the investigation reports, the heteroanamnesis obtained from family members of the fatally injured persons and the results of chemical toxicological analysis. RESULTS. There were a total of 143 cases of autopsies of homicide victims. The majority of victims were males (103 or 72.03%) aged from 21 to 30 (25.17%). Homicides were mostly performed by using mechanical weapons only (127 or 88.8%). In most of the cases five or more injuries were registered per victim (48 victims or 33.57%) or only one injury (52 or 36.36%). Most of entrance wounds were located on the anterior side of the body. CONCLUSION. We demonstrated a gradual decrease in the number of murders in our population, and therefore we can expect a decrease in the absolute number of homicides in the future. Keywords homicide; male; firearms; multiple trauma; forensic medicine Language: sr