No abstract

Identification of human remains is an important part of any medicolegal investigation. Among the primary parameters of identification like race, sex, age and stature, determination of sex is one of the foremost criteria in establishing the identity of an individual It is a challenging task for forensic experts and physical anthropologists. The human hand being the most used and versatile part of the body is of great scientific importance to investigators in the field of anthropometry. Aim: The aim of present study is to correlate sexual dimorphism with hand dimensions Materials and Methods: Present study included analyzing measurements of hand length, hand breadth and hand index amongst 304 students, aged between 20-22 years. The data were statistically analyzed using Statistical software Epi info 3.4.3 Results: In the present study there was no significant bilateral variation for measurements of hand length and hand breadth in both sexes except for hand breadth in south males (P value<0.01). The mean values of hand dimensions and hand index were more in males than in females in both north and south Indian population.There was no significant bilateral variation of hand index in both sexes of different regions. Conclusion: The present study confirms sexual dimorphism in hand dimensions. Hence hand dimensions can also be used in Sex determination in medico legal aspects.

Introduction: Stature estimation is an indispensable part of the identification process of human skeletal remains or body parts. Height is also fundamental to assess growth and nutrition and calculating body surface area. Studies on anthropometric measurements of lower limbs among living people have been used as an important tool by forensic anthropologists to reconstruct the living stature of unidentified skeletal remains. Aims and Objectives:The aim of the present study was to estimate the stature from percutaneous tibial length (PCTL) by formulating linear regression equations and also by using multiplication factors, which would be useful in the field of forensic anthropology. Materials and Methods: Sample size measured 350 subjects of Sri Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur, age group ranging from 17 to 22yrs were considered for the study. Height and PCTL were measured using the standard anthropometric technique. Results: Stature was estimated from PCTL using simple regression analysis. The height of males was significantly higher than that of females. The mean height in females and males was 158.87cm and 170.88 cm respectively; and mean PCTL was 38.54cm and 33.99cm in male and female respectively which was significantly (p<0.0001) greater for male compared with female. The regression formula derived for male was y=109.885+1.58x and for female was y=122.385+1.07x. The predicted height (y) so derived was in close approximation with that of the observed height. Conclusion: Stature can be estimated using the anthropometric measurements of tibia in an intact mutilated leg.