Profile of homicidal death cases at Government Medical College and New Civil Hospital, Surat

Abstract

Background: Surat is one of the fastest growing cities in Asia, situated in the southern region of the Gujarat state of India. Homicidal crimes are one of darkest & inevitable part of any society. We analyzed the current trend of homicidal crimes in Surat in this epidemiological study. Aims & Objective: To analyze various demographic, social and forensic aspects of homicidal crimes in Surat. Materials and Methods: Profiles of total 119 homicidal autopsy cases studied retrospectively, which were conducted during 2011 & 2012 at FMTD, GMC & NCH, Surat. The observations were compared with previous studies conducted in same region as well as studies conducted in other regions. Results: In the present study, the incidence rate of homicidal deaths was 2.79% and major age group amongst the victims was 21-30 years i.e. 30.25%. In 72.27% cases the victims were male. The chief mode of death was Haemorrhagic shock involving 57.14% of cases. In most cases 31.37% sharp edged and pointed type of weapons were used by the accused. Conclusion: The current incidence rate of homicidal deaths in Surat shows a declining trend recently. Maximum affected victims were young adult males but cases of homicides of females and children are increased in recent years. The chief mode of death was haemorrhagic shock and most common part of body receiving fatal homicidal injury was neck. Most common method for homicide was producing mechanical injuries mainly by sharp cutting weapons but mere manual force also used in significant number of cases.

One-Year Prospective Study of Patterns of Homical Deaths- An Autopsy Based Study

“…The rural population is more present as the educational status varies among the rural and urban population, which leads to variation in the crime graph. The findings are similar with the studies conducted by Mittal et al [20] and Zanzrukiya et al [21], where the area of study was more Hindu population.…”

Study of socio-demographic profile of victims in cases of deaths due to homicide

“…Sex ratios were lower in studies done by Hugar BS et al 5 (2.53:1), Zankuriya K et al 14 (2.6:1), Singh OG et al 22 (2.85:1) and Mishra PK et al 17 (2.9:1).…”

“…Two years study by Shah JP et al in 13 Rajkot region reported that homicide deaths account for 2.70% of all autopsies. In Surat district, Zankuriya K et al 14 studied 119 (2.79%) cases of homicide out of 4264 autopsies over 2 years from 2011-2012.…”

Spectrum of unnatural deaths: autopsies conducted at A. J. Institute of medical sciences & research centre, Mangalore

“…72 In majority of cases, preferred method of killing used by the miscreants was by inflicting mechanical injury, which is in accordance with the studies reported from Surat and Bangalore. [73][74][75] In sixty percent of the mechanical injury linked homicide preferred choice of weapon was sharp weapon. The increasing use of sharp cutting weapons by the people of this region could well be explained by the fact that these weapons are more dangerous than blunt weapons and are easily available due to agricultural background and at the same time non availability of firearms.…”