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Poroscopy is the term applied to a specialized study of pore structure found on papillary ridges of skin as a means of identification. It comes under level 3 detail of identification and hence is more reliable and accurate. The goal of this study is to estimate the importance of poroscopy for identification of individuals and to determine the gender based on frequency, type, and shape of pores. Left plain thumb prints of 200 individuals (100 men and 100 women) aged between 18 and 60 belonging to South Indian population were observed. The results have shown that women tend to have a significantly higher frequency of pores than men. Number of pores ≤ 8 pores/25 mm(2) is more likely to be of male origin and ≥9 pores/25 mm(2) is more likely to be of female origin. There was no significant sex difference based on type and shape of pores.

In view of increased immigration, incidents of deaths outside the deceased's own country are on rise. Death of a foreign national involves an array of legal formalities. Also a spectrum of queries and concerns may be raised by the authorities as well as the relatives regarding various aspects related to the death. It is especially true when the postmortem reports are kept in abeyance for want of reports of ancillary investigations. All these issues could make autopsy on foreign nationals, a thorn in the autopsy surgeon's flesh. An attempt is made to draw attention towards the difficulties which can arise in such a scenario through one such case involving death of a foreign national, autopsied at our centre. ª 2015 Hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The International Association of Law and Forensic Sciences (IALFS).