Significance of External Findings in Hanging Cases during Autopsy

Niranjan Sahoo,Arunava Dutta,Bibhuti Bhusana Panda,Nityanand Kumar

doi:10.7439/ijbar.v7i3.3090

Abstract

The external findings are utmost important in the opinion formation during autopsy of hanging deaths. Thus the current study was done with the aim of studying the significance of external findings in hanging cases during post-mortem examination in the Department of FMT, RIMS, Ranchi prospectively from 1st March, 2013 to 30th May, 2014. Majority of cases of hanging had not received any treatment. In maximum cases the nature of suspension was complete type. Atypical hangings were seen in most cases. Most commonly used ligature materials were Jute Rope and Dupatta. In majority cases the ligature mark was above the thyroid cartilage followed by at and above the thyroid cartilage. In maximum cases the position of knot was present at occipital region of the neck, followed by at over left mastoid region of the neck. In majority of case the ligature mark was prominent and discontinuous. The colour of ligature mark was dark brown in more than half of the cases followed by yellowish brown. In majority of cases the post-mortem staining was present. Only about 39% of cases the dried salivary stain was found. Involuntary discharge was seen only in 17% of cases. Tongue protrusion was found in 29.87 % of cases.

Highlights

In present study it was found that in maximum cases where the nature of suspension was complete type, which accounted for 88.32% where as partial type of hanging was few in number accounting for 11.68%
The present findings www.ssjournals.com are comparable with the findings of the other authors where the complete hanging cases were about 64% and partial hanging cases were about 36%. [4]; another author reported that the complete type of hanging in about 99% of total cases studied.[5] in other study about 88% complete and 12 % incomplete.[6]
The atypical ligature mark was observed in majority of cases in studies, which is comparable with the present study.[ 9,10] Dribbling of saliva and the sympathetic nerve compression may depend upon the knot position

Summary

Material and Method

Hanging is that form of asphyxia which is caused by suspension of the body by ligature which encircles the neck. The typical external findings that should be looked for in a case of hanging death are the ligature mark, knot position, color of the face, frothing, glove and stocking pattern of post-mortem lividity, dribbling of saliva, tongue position, eye open or closed, dilated pupil etc. The present study was undertaken with the aim of studying the significance of external findings in hanging cases during post-mortem examination. The materials for the present study were dead body brought for autopsy from various police stations. Cases which died due to asphyxia as a result of hanging either alone or in association with other injuries are included for the study. The ligature material including the knot was examined and external examination of the whole body was carried out with great precaution. To make the study more systematic and error free a proforma was designed and tested to record detailed observation of post-mortem examination including other relevant detailed information.

Results and Observation

Discussion

Conclusion