Background: Road traffic accidents are a major epidemic of non-communicable disease in the present century. Among the injuries caused in fatal road traffic accidents, head injuries are most serious injuries to cause mortality and morbidity. Hence the present study was conducted to know the pattern of head injuries in victims of fatal road traffic accident cases. Material & Method: The present study was conducted at the tertiary healthcare centre in southern Haryana. Total of 50 cases of fatal road traffic accident cases with head injuries were enrolled during one year of study period. The basic information about the deceased like age, gender, mode of travel of the victim was obtained from investigating officer narration and inquest papers. During autopsy, detailed examination of injuries was carried out and the autopsy findings were recorded and analyzed. Results: It was observed that out of 50 cases male outnumbered females in ratio 6.14:1. Majority of the victims belonged to the age group 21-30 years. It was observed that among the external injuries over scalp contusion were most common followed by lacerations. It was also observed that intracranial hemorrhages were present in the majority of the victims. Fissured fracture of skull was present in 20% of the victims followed by comminuted fracture 12%. Conclusion: The head injury during road traffic accidents results in mortality, morbidity and disability of the victims. Public attention, awareness, preventive and remedial strategies should be undertaken to control fatal road traffic accidents.

Background: Road traffic accidents are preventable public health issues and are becoming more common. These accidents can be linked to a number of factors, including an increase in the number of vehicles on the roads, changes in daily life, a nasty habit of breaking traffic laws, anarchic traffic systems, and risky driving practices. Thoraco-abdominal injury in different forms is one of the major causes of mortality in the victims of fatal road traffic accidents. The aim of this study was to know the pattern of thoraco-abdominal injuries in victims of fatal road traffic accident cases. Material & Method: The present study was conducted at the tertiary healthcare centre in southern Haryana. Total of 75 cases of fatal road traffic accident cases were enrolled during one year of study period. The basic information about the deceased like age, gender, mode of travel of the victim was obtained from investigating officer narration and inquest papers. During autopsy, detailed examination of injuries was carried out and the autopsy findings were recorded and analyzed. Results: It was observed that out of 75 cases male outnumbered females in ratio 5.25:1. Majority of the victims belonged to the age group 21-30 years. The commonest injury of the thoracic region was rib fracture (41.3%). It was also observed that 17.3% of victims had pelvic fracture. Conclusion: Human error is a major contributing factor to fatal RTAs, which can be avoided in many cases. A more stringent licensing policy, particularly for four-wheelers, increased knowledge of traffic laws, the reduction of drug abuse and an appropriate road network that is in line with traffic volume can help to reduce the number of fatal road traffic accidents.

The aim of this study was to estimate cadaveric/post-mortem stature from dry sternum measurements by deriving regression equations. This study included dry intact sterna from 56 males and 44 females, aged more than 25 years, obtained during medico-legal autopsies. Stature and three sternal lengths i.e. length of the manubrium (ML), Mesosternal length (MSL) and combined sternal length (MBL), of each cadaver were measured. Stature and all measured sternal lengths were greater in males compared to females (p<0.001). Most of the sternal lengths were positively correlated with stature in sexes except male MSL and MBL. MBL had the highest correlation coefficient (0.525). On the other hand, the stepwise multiple linear regression equation derived from the combination of ML, MSL and MBL had the higher R2 value (R2 = 0.337) for cadaveric stature estimation. These findings suggested that measured sternal lengths can be used for estimation of sex. However, MSL and MBL measurements were found to be the most reliable sternal lengths for estimating sex. Our results revealed that sternum morphometry although shows moderate positive correlation with the cadaveric stature but is not a reliable tool for estimating stature when other skeletal bones are not available.

The increase in trend of medical negligence lawsuits against doctors due to awareness among general population because of various factors has lead to increase anxiety among medical professionals. Knowledge about medico-legal issues, laws relating to medical practice and medical ethics, which were not taken seriously earlier by the health professionals, has made them more vulnerable to litigations. All these issues are taught to them in their second year of undergraduate training, but the lack of understanding of these issues during their internship training made them inadequate with respect to standards of noble medical profession. Hence, the present study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of our interns on handling routine medico-legal issues in the wards and casualty. A total of 100 interns posted in various departments of the institute participated in this research. Data were collected in the form of a self-administered questionnaire comprising close-ended questions related to the topic of the study. The majority of participants had knowledge about bulk of medico-legal issues. However, there was uncertainty regarding preparation of injury certificate, hospital indemnity insurance, medical record preservation and evidence collection in sexual assault and poisoning cases. The knowledge gaps identified through this study on particular topics help us to plan some remedial measures in undergraduate and internship training.

Poisoning cases are important part of medico-legal cases coming to a heath care centre. This paper presents the study of cases of poisoning received in the casualty of Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun during a span of 2 years (2011–2012). The cases were then analysed on various epidemiological parameters, feeding the information in the predesigned Performa prepared for this purpose. It was concluded that there is not much gender difference, however, majority of victims were married and most commonly among people from the age group of 21–30 years. Maximum number of cases took place in the month of November and May. During the span of the study, poisoning due to insecticide were predominant, constituting about 57 percent of all poisoning cases, while poisoning through unknown compounds was the second most common fatal poisoning.

Bullet entering into the human body chooses its own path. Exit of bullet from the body depends upon its type, muzzle velocity, shooting distance and internal structures coming along its internal path. Exit of bullet through its own entry wound is possible theoretically, especially when wound track is short and limited by bony structure. In those circumstances, there may be atypical appearance of the external gunshot wound, posing problem to differentiate entry wound and exit wound, calculating number of bullets entered or lodged inside, besides estimating the shooting distance. The present authors had reported a fatal case of rifle firearm injury where one bullet fired from intermediate range had exited through its own entry wound, on back of the neck.

Variation from common findings in death due to firearm injury is not commonly encountered. When there is an atypical finding, the forensic pathologist may feel it difficult for differentiating firearm entry wound from firearm exit wound, tracing the wound track, estimating approximate range of firing and differentiating suicidal injury from homicidal injury. Failure to differentiate entry wound from exit wound can cause error in calculating number of projectiles entered into the body, lodged inside the body or exited through the body, besides posing problem in ascertaining direction of firing and direction of wound track etc. Failure to differentiate contact or close range firearm injury from distant range firearm injury can lead to wrong interpretation about the manner of death. The authors have reported a fatal case of rifled firearm injury showing multiple variations from common findings.

Health and life are prime importance of human being. So, it is the duty of health professional to provide the bess possible health care to his patient. When the patient ii paying for it, he has every right to complain against the deficient or wrong treatment provided to him. Now due to enactment of Consumer Protection Act, increasing commercialization of health care facilities and increasing awareness among the public, medical negligence suits are on rise. This has triggered irrational panic among medical professionals. Judgments of the Supreme Court of India on various medical negligence cases show that doctoc cannot be punished without undoubted evidence against him. In this paper, the authors have emphasized the heed for correct interpretation of various aspecttsf Consumer Protection Act along with some important judgments of the Supreme Court of India.

Lacerated wounds of the neck can be of any origin- accidental, homicidal, or suicidal. In this case report, a case has been presented where a part of metallic saw of a wood cutting machine flied as a projectile and cut the throat of a middle aged male who was operating the machine inside metro construction area. Death occurred as result of exsanguination caused by the injuries to major blood vessels of the neck. In the case we presented, although the cut in the neck initially suggested homicide, it was found to have occurred as a result of an accident after the autopsy and death scene investigation. Key words: Accidental neck injury, wood cutting machine, saw blade.

Sexual assault is a heinous crime. Man commits the act to fulfill his sexual urge, to show his masculinity, to get control of the victim, to take revenge and various other reasons, out of abnormal mind, out of ignorance of the law of the land or out of opportunity. The mental trauma suffered by the victim may linger till end of her life. Number of reported sexual assault on female is said to be only a tip of iceberg in comparison to actual incidents. However, accusation of sexual assault is often used as a tool of advantage by female for various reasons like for blackmailing the alleged offender, monetary gain, forcing to compromise on some disputes. It is said that sexual assault case is hard to prove and harder to disprove. Opinions on sexual intercourse by medico-legal examination are based on the physical findings on the private parts of the victim and detection of seminal fluid in and around the genitals. Negative findings cannot rule out sexual intercourse on many occasions. The present authors had reported a case where the medico-legal examination of the alleged victim clearly disproved the alleged incidence of gang rape. Key words: Sexual assault, rape, medico-legal examination, medical evidence, false accusation, fabrication, self inflicted injury.

A post-mortem study was conducted to differentiate male and female sternum. A total of 100 sternums of adult individuals (56 males & 44 females) were obtained from the cases brought for autopsy to the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi between the periods August 2005 to March 2007. Our study concluded that the widths of manubrium and width of third sternebrae were not found useful for determining sex from sternum. However, by using width of first sternebrae, 71.42% male and 95.45% female sternums could be sexed correctly.

A post-mortem study was conducted to differentiate male and female sternum. A total of 100 sternums of adult individuals (56 males & 44 females) were obtained from the cases brought for autopsy to the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi between the periods August 2005 to March 2007. Our study concluded that the combined length of manubrium and mesosternum was the best parameter for determining sex from sternum. It was found to determine sex correctly in 91.07% male and 61.36% female specimens. The length of the mesosternum was found to be reliable in 91.07% male and 52.27% female specimens for determination of sex. However, the length of manubrium and sternal index were not found to be reliable for determining sex. By using discriminant functions, 92.9% male and 97.7% female sternum could be sexed correctly.