We report the sudden death of a 23-year-old male with hairline ankle fracture after massage of the leg by his mother. Autopsy confirmed the cause of death as pulmonary thromboembolism due to deep vein thrombosis of the leg veins which was dislodged and travelled to his lungs consequent to the leg massage. The treating doctors did not warn the patient of the risk of developing pulmonary thromboembolism.

Adipocere is medico-legally exigent post-mortem change alternative to putrefaction. Sprinkling table salt over corpse to hasten disintegration and keep carnivores and nibblers off is a feature of ritualistic burial. We describe an unusual murder concealment wherein assailant put quantum of table salt over and around dead body while burying in jungle to hasten disintegration. Unexpected adipocere involving table salt preserved the body and firearm injuries. A mystifying thanatological aspect was the basic fact of table salt osmotically drawing even intrinsic body water needed for adipocere in non-damp conditions. It exceptionally formed in a week, and in a shallow grave, its formation in such conditions being very unusual and unreported.

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