Crime scene visit, a valuable tool for an atypical unfamiliar hanging death

Abstract

The foremost objective of medico-legal autopsy is to determine the cause of death. Sometimes, it is a challenge for the autopsy surgeon to establish the manner of death as well. Crime scene visit prior to post-mortem examination, or after, is an essential tool for the autopsy surgeon to establish the manner of unfamiliar deaths where the investigation is in dilemma. Suicide by means of hanging, using personal belongings like saree, dhoti, lungi, rope, wire, etc, as a ligature material is very common amongst Indian population, irrespective of age, sex, and socio-economic status. We, report a case of hanging death at an isolated place in the reserve forest where a creeper plant, used as a ligature material, aroused suspicion of homicide. However, in this suspicious case, post-mortem examination and a meticulous observation of the crime scene, by the autopsy surgeons, aided in ascertaining the actual manner of death as suicide.