Burn Cases The fire arm injuries are one of the most difficult medico-legal problems to be dealth with. This requires a good amount of experience and knowledge of the ballistics. A thorough examination and the assistance of investigative and reconstructive forensic medicine will bring about a solution to the problems resulting in a correct diagnosis if it is homicidal suicidance or accident.
A few years back, from a town of 500 km away from Bhopal, I got a message that a government official is found dead in his own residence with a fire arm injury to the chest. The single barrel 12 bore gun was lying by the side of the person with blood spurting around. The doors and windows were open. The flooring was flag stone. I mentioned this because at a subsequent stage, these assisted us in reconstruction at the graph paper, giving the relationship and exact distance between the object found on the floor including stains. On telephone, I instructed the civil surgeon of the town that he should get the detailed photograph of the scene of incidence and the body should be left as such without disturbing anything as far as possible. The body should be X rayed for the fire arm injuries from the front and from the side. With all the photographs, negatives, and the X ray slides, the body should be sent to another town which is only 100 KM away from Bhopal. It should reach there as early as possible.
Since the body arrived in the town where post mortem was to be performed at 9, "o' clock in the night, I asked the police officers to bring it to Bhopal. This I instructed due to the better facilities available in my department, ie. Medico-legal Institute.
Post mortem was performed and it was found that oblique on the left side of the chest is present. I shown in the photograph the long axis of the wound is pointing towards the arm pit. The wound was contact wound with burning of the stain, imbedding of the carbon blackening of the stain.
It was expected clinically that the shorts will be found in the left arm pit region. They have all been absorbed in the body and there was no exit wound. Contrary to this, the X rays show that the punch of shots are lying on the left side of the chest at its base. They were virtually 90� oblique to the line of fire.
The story was very complicated and given to us by pressuring various persons by the relatives of the deceased that his official had been murdered. After the post mortem, I sent a telephonic call to the DIG of the Range that the deceased has committed suicide. All my staff was taken aback since a very positive opinion was given in this case to the surprise of all of them. They wanted to know what is the scientific evidence at my disposal to give a cause of death as suicide.
The 12 bore gun that accompanied the dead body was called for and I demonstrated the position only in which it is the voluntary act of the deceased and no other person.
This is a reconstruction, because one bends down with his right shoulder and the right hand directed towards feet, the left shoulder moves up. The left ribs move also up like a bucket handle. By taking the contents of the right chest also upwards. In this position, the left lower ribs came at the level of the arm pits and receives the shots/pellets during fire. When the left shoulder came in alignment with the right shoulder, the left thoracic case also come down which is seen in the X ray.
Thereafter, there were many supporting points available on and in the gun. The barrel mouth was smudged with blood and some of the blood has stickled down and soiled the empty cartridge in the chamber thereby proving that the muscle end of the gun remain in contact with the chest when the person was standing. This contact was, though momentary, sufficient to allow flow of blood to the chamber.
The deceased was only putting on a banyan which had a hole corresponding to the wound but also accompanied by a tear on a certain distance travelling horizontally. This was attributed the foresight which get struck to the banyan and as it fell away from body, the weight of the gun made the tear. The banyan also had blood flown vertically downwards.
After a month, I visited the scene of incidence and reconstructed the incidence as it took place. The photograph will show that the deceased has fallen in his chest that means after straightening himself, he turned 180� and he fell down, evidence of which was available due to spurting of the blood near head end.
The second evidence was where the muscle end of the gun was lying, slightly away from head, the photograph will show that whatever blood was sticking to the muscle, spurted around the muscle end of the barrel indicating that it was due to the fall. The but of the gun was near the legs.
This examination was necessary as an exercise to complete the examination and conclusion drawn that it is a case of suicide.
 |
Shows experimental ostmortem burning of the foot with Kerosin soaked cloth which shows no blebbing and oozing of the fat and liquid from the cut surface at the ankle. |
|
 |
|
Shows marks burns and of the cloths available on body |
 |
Burnt family in the Mortuary |
|
 |
Body Cut and then Burned |
|
 |
Burn case of Lady |
|
