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J Indian Acad Forensic Med. Jan- March 2012, Vol. 34, No. 1 ISSN 0971-0973 Case Report Electrocution Method to Conceal Homicide A Rare Case Report *M. P. Jambure, *R. M. Tandle, **K U Zine Abstract Killing of a human being is one of the most serious or major crimes. Assailants are very keen to conceal crime by different methods, so there may be wrong interpretation by inexperienced autopsy surgeons and hence it may lead to injustice. So it is important that our keen observation and opinion should be conclusive for the administration of justice. In this paper we are presenting a rare case which was brought by police as a case of electrocution. After meticulous autopsy and crime scene visit, the case turned to be of homicidal manner. The cause of death was manual strangulation with head injury and electrical injuries were post-mortem in nature. The deceased was under the influence of alcohol. The necessary investigations like histo-pathological examination also ruled out ante-mortem nature of electric injury. The present paper highlights the importance of meticulous autopsy and crime scene visit for determination of cause and manner of death. Key Words: Manual strangulation, Head injury, Post-mortem electrocution, Scene of crime Introduction: Deaths due to electrocution are infrequent; virtually all such deaths are mostly accidental in nature with suicides much rarer & homicides least common. In India, the electricity supplied in domestic houses is usually 220-240 volts alternating current with 50 cycles per second. [1] Homicidal electrocution is caused by placing live wire at some place which the victim is expected to touch. [2] The viscera should be analyzed to know whether the victim was impaired at the time of incidence. [3] Manual strangulation is a form of violent asphyxia death when the constriction of the air passage at the neck is caused by means of pressure of human fingers, palms or hands upon the throat. Usually murderers use more force to kill the victim than is ordinarily required; hence the evidence of the pressure applied, will be overtly manifested locally. The modes of death in case of manual strangulation are asphyxia, congestive suboxia and vagal inhibition; the latter being more common. Evidence of certain typical findings such as head injury and intoxicating drugs in the stomach of the deceased will suggest homicide, even in absence of signs of struggle. [4] Corresponding Author: * Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Government Medical College, Aurangabad E-mail: mahesh.jambure@rediffmail.com **Associate Professor and Head 92 The mentality of assailant after strangling their victims is to hide the crime by disposing of the dead bodies by burning, burying, throwing them into water or concealing them in distant places in most of cases, electrocution, hanging and throwing the dead body on railway track. The visit to scene of crime by medico-legal expert has a great bearing upon the medical opinion. Case Report: This paper presents a case of 45 year old male who was brought dead to casualty of Government Medical College, Aurangabad on 15 th September 2008 by his wife and son with history of sudden unconsciousness after accidental electrocution while ironing the cloths at 11 hrs in the morning. The police also suspected the same due to electrical injuries over hands. Autopsy Findings: External Examination: On examination, the deceased was a moderately built, well nourished male of weight 56 kg, and length158 cm. with congested face. There were petechial haemorrhage in conjunctivae, bleeding from left ear, lividity fixed, rigor mortis generalized and well marked. Injuries over Neck: Multiple finger tip contusions and nail scratch abrasions were present over thyroid region over anterior and both lateral aspect of neck, reddish in colour.
J Indian Acad Forensic Med. Jan- March 2012, Vol. 34, No. 1 ISSN 0971-0973 Photo 1: Multiple Abrasions & Contusions over Neck Other injuries: 1. Abraded contusion over left forehead of size 5cmX3cm, irregular, reddish. 2. Burn injury over right forearm dorsal aspect, 15X7cm, base pale, no e/o vital reaction. 3. Electric burns over dorsum little finger, middle finger and dorsum of left hand of sizes 0.5X 0.5cm, 1X1cm and 2.5X1cm respectively, pale yellow, no e/o hyperaemia surrounding injury and any other vital reaction. 4. Electric burns over right palm two in number of sizes 1X1cm each, appeared as pale yellowish crater. There was no e/o vital reaction and hyperemia surrounding injury. Photo 2: Electric Burn over Dorsum of Hand Photo 3: Electric Burns over Right Palm Internal Examination: Neck: Evidence of contusion over strap muscles on both sides corresponding to overlying 93 injuries, reddish in colour. There was e/o fracture of thyroid cartilage and cricoid cartilage in midline with blood infiltration in fractured margins, reddish. There were e/o petechial haemorrhages around epiglottis. Photo 4: Petechial Haemorrhages around Epiglottis Head: Under-scalp contusion over left frontotemporal region 0f size 12X10cm, with e/o underlying subarachnoid haemorrhage of size 10X9cm, reddish. There was e/o petechial haemorrhage in white matter of brain. Investigations: Viscera: Alcohol was detected in blood of concentration 145mgm ethyl alcohol /100 ml and in stomach-136 mgms/100 gms. Other viscera: Acro reaction was negative. Histopathology: No inflammatory reaction seen on skin from alleged site of electric shock indicating the nature of injury as post-mortem. Visit to Scene of Crime: Scene of incidence was visited by a team of Forensic expert, police and electrical technical expert. It was a room of size 10X10 feet. The iron press was kept on table with outer coat of wire partially burnt and inner coat intact. We found candle on table near iron press which was used to burn the outer coat of the wire of the iron press. Photo 5: Scene of Crime Discussion: Manual strangulation is the common mode of homicide both in adults and children, as
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