SUICIDAL CUT THROAT - A CASE REPORT - medIND

JIAFM, 2005 : 27 (4). ISSN 0971-0973
SUICIDAL CUT THROAT - A CASE REPORT
Dr. Fremingston K. Marak, Junior Resident,
Dr. Th. Bijoy Singh, Asst. Professor,
Regional Institute of Medical Sciences,Imphal, Manipur, 795004.
ABSTRACT
Cut throat is not a very common method preferred for committing suicide. Homicidal cut throat is
more commonly seen in our country. The common methods used for committing suicide in our country
are hanging, consumption of poison, burns, jumping from height, drowning, firearms, stabbing etc. Suicidal
incised wounds are found most commonly in the neck and is usually associated with hesitational cut
wounds. This paper is presented due to its rarity.
Key Words : Suicide, cut throat, depression.
INTRODUCTION
Suicide is defined as death due to an
intentional act or acts of the deceased who
anticipates his or her resultant death[1]. Suicide is
the "taking of one's own life"[2]. It is taken from the
Latin word where "Sui" means "of himself" and
"caedere" means "to kill". Mental illness constituted
a major cause of suicide, followed by domestic
conflicts. Cultural and religious factor continued to
play an important role in suicidal behaviour in India.
Ethnically, rate among Hindus was higher than
among Christians[3]. Association between suicide
and hopelessness was stronger and more stable
than the association with depression and substance
use disorder[4].
CASE REPORT
On 30-07-2004 at about 8:30 am, it was
informed to the Police that a dead body was found
lying dead on a bed with pool of blood at North
AOC, Kekru village. As it was a UD case, the Police
conducted the Inquest and brought the dead body
to RIMS Mortuary for Post Mortem Examination.
On examination, the deceased was of normal
physique, good nutritional status, normal posture,
wearing a stripped blue and white T-shirt, semiclotted
blood was present on the right side of the
chest and also on the backside with mud, One satin
track pant with blood stain on the right side, One
blood stained suspender, One black thread on the
right upper arm with a metallic talisman.
Generalised pallor of the body was present, the
eyes and mouth were closed, right hand was
260
clenched, dried blood stain was present on the right
upper limb at different places from the deltoid to
the palm, rigor mortis was present all over the body,
postmortem staining was feebly present on the
face, front of the chest and abdomen and fixed,
postmortem insect bites were present on the left
eyelids and around the eyebrows.
External injuries were as follows
(1) One incised wound on the left side of the neck
obliquely placed, extending from the level of the
mastoid up to the lateral border of the thyroid
cartilage on the right side, elliptical in shaped,
measuring 14 x 3.5 cms in size, with red clean cut
margins involving right neck muscles, vessels and
thyroid cartilage.
(2) Two parallel obliquely placed subcutaneous
deep incised wound (hesitation marks) was present
on the right side neck, situated 3 cms below the
angle of the mandible, measuring 8 cm in length
and 0.2 mm in width with clean cut margins. Tailing
of the wound present anteriorly.
On internal examination the injuries were as follows:
The sternomastoid muscle, jugular vein were
cut on the left side, the thyroid cartilage was partially
cut on both sides.
Weight of the brain was 1100 gms, Right lung
was 280 gms, Left lung was 260 gms, Heart was
260 gms, Liver was 1000 gms, Spleen was 80 gms,
Right Kidney was 140 gms, Left Kidney was 140
gms, around 300 cc of semi-digested food materials
were present on the stomach and faecal matters

were present in the intestines.
Death was opined as due to haemorrhagic
shock resulting from incised wound on the neck
produced by sharp weapon. Suicidal in nature. Time
since death was given as 12-18 hours
(approximately) at the time of autopsy. Injuries were
antemortem in nature and fresh at the time of
death.
DISCUSSION
Under Section 306 IPC, if any person commits
suicide, whoever abets the commission of such
suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of
either description for a term, which may extend to
ten years, and shall be liable to fine. Under Section
309 IPC, whoever attempts to commit suicide and
does any act towards the commission of such
offence, shall be punished with simple
imprisonment for a term, which may extend to one
year or with fine or with both[5]. Suicide is a problem
with many facets from the psychiatric and
psychological point of view on one hand and to the
mechanic of the mode of death on the other. For
every suicide there is a far larger number of
attempted suicides and suicidal gesture, so that
the successful suicides are merely the tip of the
proverbial iceberg. According to WHO estimate,
approximately 8,14,000 people died by suicide in
the year 2000. In the past 45 years suicide rates
have increased by 60% in some countries and
suicide is now one of the three leading causes of
death among those aged 15 - 34 years worldwide.
This data clearly indicate that suicide is a serious
public health problem[6]. In the present case study
the victim was a 28-year-old male with a history of
depression for the last few years. Suicidal deaths
are attracting increasingly more attention from the
medical professional and public health agencies.
The common methods used for committing suicide
in our country are hanging, consumption of poison,
burns, jumping from height, drowning, firearms,
stabbing etc. The choice of method used to commit
suicide depends upon the availability of means,
knowledge about lethal effectiveness and the
victims' motivation and intent[7]. Regardless to any
real or suspected trend, suicide is a public health
problem by virtue of the present incidence[8].
Agnihotri AK[9] stated that incised wounds are
usually suicidal while chopped wounds (i.e. type of
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JIAFM, 2005 : 27 (4). ISSN 0971-0973
incised wound) and stab wounds are usually
homicidal. They found the stab wound to be more
common compared to cut throat in males as well
as females. Suicidal incised wounds were found
most commonly in the neck and wrist. The
hesitation marks, which were superficial, were
associated with the main wound in the neck region.
The suicidal victims were found dead in their home.
Injuries on the back and genitalia were uncommon
in suicidals. According to Karisson T[10] stab
wounds on the chest (horizontal) were commonest
cause of suicide followed by cut in the wrist.
According to his study, irrespective of sex, majority
of both suicide and homicides took pace in the
victim's home. In this present case the suicidal
victim was found dead in his home with an incised
wound in the neck and associated with hesitational
wounds.
CONCLUSION
Cut throat is not the commonly preferred
method for committing suicide. Homicidal cut throat
injuries are more commonly found in others studies.
The gravity of the situation that makes a person to
commit suicide need to be dealt with and medical
help should be provided once the person shows
any symptoms and signs of suicidal tendency.
Attempts should be made to reach out to this
individuals and proper counseling should be done
so as to enable them to cope with the situation.
The public should also be made aware of Section
306 and 309 IPC; because abetment of suicide is
punishable under Sec. 306 IPC for a term, which
may extend to 10 years and attempt to commit
suicide is punishable under Sec. 309 IPC5 for a
term, which may extend to 1 year, with fine or with
both. The purpose of psychological autopsy are to
identify factors that contributed to suicides, helps
professional who work with suicidal client, prevent
suicide in future and supplement findings on
physical autopsy.
References
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JIAFM, 2005 : 27 (4). ISSN 0971-0973
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