Background: Railway related deaths account for approximately one percentage of all fatalities submitted to medicolegal autopsies. The study is undertaken with the aim of better understanding of railway track deaths by analyzing the demographic details of victims and other contributing factors which favours the occurrence of railway track deaths.Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study of all railway track deaths brought for medicolegal autopsy at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, Kerala, India from 1st March 2010 to 28th February 2011 was done. A total of 104 cases of railway track deaths were studied excluding cases with advanced decomposition. Clinical case records were studied in treated cases. details regarding nature dimensions and location of injury was entered in a proforma. The data were entered in MS Excel and statistical analysis was done.Results: Out of 104 cases studied 83 (79.8%) victims were male and 21 (20.2%) victims were female. The lowest and highest age of the victim involved in the study was 15 years and 90 years respectively. Elderly people with impairment of vision and hearing are most vulnerable to such accidents 12.5%. The highest frequency of incidence of railway deaths occurred while crossing the Railway track (32.7%), followed by jumping in front of the train (19.2%) and walking along the side or through track (16.3%). In 17.3% of the cases there was no exact history regarding the incident. The most common types of external injuries were lacerated wound and abrasion. In all the cases head showed lacerated wounds and the upper limbs showed abrasion.Conclusions: Present study concludes that majority of victims were males showing a female ratio 4:1, The peak incidence was noted in the 6th decade. Most of the victims were manual labourers. Travelling, moving and crossing near railway tracks in intoxicated condition is very usual practice. Survival period was found to be very less.

BACKGROUND Death occurring in apparently healthy individual in a case of natural death may arise suspicion of foul play. In these circumstances these cases may be subjected to medicolegal autopsy. The disease condition may be unknown to the individual and the relatives. This study was done to review the exact cause of death in sudden unexpected deaths, and enabling or assisting the legal authorities in detection of crime, to prove or disprove the foul play. Body mass index is the most frequently used indicator of body fatness. An attempt is made to find out whether there is any significant relationship between BMI and the risk for sudden cardiac death. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data of 50 cases of sudden unexpected death brought for medicolegal autopsy at govt. T.D. medical college Alappuzha in the year 2010 were studied and information were collected from the postmortem records. Data was entered in the proforma. The histopathological examination findings of relevant cases were studied. Analysis was done using MS EXCEL and Chi-square test was used as the test of significance in the comparison between two categorical variables.

BACKGROUNDLarge scale disruption of different body parts is seen in fatal railway incidents whether accidental or suicidal. Careful examination of body parts is necessary to find the relative position of victim and train during the occurrence of incident. Extensive mutilation of the body makes identification difficult and the relatives often refuse to believe that their family member committed suicide. An attempt is made to study the pattern of injuries that occur during accidental fall from train and suicidal jumping in front of the train, so that it may help a forensic pathologist to suggest a possible manner of death when sufficient history is not available. MATERIALS AND METHODSA descriptive study of all railway track deaths brought for medicolegal autopsy at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, Kerala, from 1 st March 2010 to 28 th February 2011 were analysed. A total of 104 cases of railway track deaths were studied excluding cases with advanced decomposition. Data regarding nature of incidents were collected from the Kerala Police Form 102 (KPF 102), investigating officers and relatives. Clinical case records were studied in treated cases. A meticulous external and internal examination was made and the details regarding nature, dimensions and location of injury was entered in a proforma. The data were entered in MS Excel and statistical analysis was done. RESULTSOut of the 104 cases of railway occurrence, six cases (5.8%) were those with history of fall from running train and 20 (19.2%) cases were with history of jumping in front of train. External injury was present in all the cases. In all the cases, head showed lacerated wounds and the upper limbs showed abrasion. All the cases showed soft tissue injuries on the head and face. Fracture of the skull bone was seen in 66.6% of cases. Head alone was injured in 83.3% of cases and head and neck were involved in 1 case. Soft tissue injury was present in three cases (50%). Injury to chest was present in 66.6% of cases. In 50% of cases, the liver was found lacerated either alone (16.6%) or in combination with other viscera (33.3%). Chest alone and abdomen alone were injured in 1 case (16.6%) each. Chest along with abdomen was injured in 3 cases (50%). In two cases, there was transection of the body at the level of abdomen, in one of which the chest structure also was injured. External injury of pelvic region was present in 50% of cases, while fracture occurred in only one case. The upper limb showed fracture in two cases (33.3%); in one at single site (left elbow) and in the other at multiple sites. The lower limb showed multiple fractures (16.6%) in one case. In the case with fracture of the left elbow joint there was an abrasion on the back of left elbow, the upper four ribs on left side were fractured on the back aspect and head showed contusion with lacerated wound on right side. In Group II abrasions and lacerated wounds were the major types of injuries seen in this group showing a frequency of 90% each. In all the cases head showed lacerated wound...

BACKGROUNDLiver injury is one of the most common causes of death in blunt trauma in the abdomen. The large size, approximately central location and relative friability of the organ combine to render it vulnerable to injury by mechanical violence applied either to abdomen or thorax. Very often forensic pathologists are required to give an opinion as to the nature and degree of trauma from which the injury could have resulted. In the presence of right-sided haemothorax and right-sided rib fracture in various traumatic occurrences (like fall from height, kicks, occupants of vehicle, etc.) a suspicion about hepatic injury can help in timely intervention.