An autopsy study on injuries in homicidal deaths due to weapons

Abstract

Homicide is defined as the intentional act of taking another person’s life. This study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital and Medical College at Pondicherry between 2004 to 2019. It included all homicide deaths with weapon autopsied in the department of Forensic Medicine. A total of 74 cases of homicide was identified and studied. The male : female ratio was 4:1. Commonest age group was 21- 30 years of age. 78% of cases had fatal injuries in more than one anatomical region and head was the most targeted region. More than one type of injuries was present in 65% of cases. In this study male victim had mostly sharp force weapon induced injuries and female victims had blunt force weapon induced injuries. It was also found that in age groups less than 10 years and more than 60 years blunt force weapon induced injuries predominated, whereas in other young adult age groups sharp force weapon induced injuries were predominately seen.