Profile of exhumations and autopsy on exhumed dead body or human remains: A retrospective study

摘要

Background: Exhumation is a process by which the alread y buried dead body is taken o ut by digging under the law of the land. Most of exhumations are attended by non forensic hence the legal procedure of exhumation and meticulous examination of the dead body are lacking and literature is silent regarding it. Objective: To study exhumation process, digging time, depth of b urial, posture of the b ody, human remains cause of death and interval between death and burial were studied. Materials & Methods: 18 cases of exhumation carried at Vijayapur district fro m 2003 to 2015 were studied. Results: Average digging time 56 minutes, average depth of burial 3.56 feet, posture of the body in 50% sitting and in 50% horizontal, in all cases expect one case skeleton remains were examined, cause of death found in 88.88% cases, average duration of burial 103 days. Interval between death and burial affects rate of decomposition. In 2 cases cause of death not found hence soil and decomposed soft tissues were preserved, duration of skeletinization to occur was 2 to 3 months. Conclusions: Exhumation is not a futile exercise and cause of death can be fo und in most of cases irrespective of duration of burial. Interval between the date and time of death to the date & time of burial is also an important factor which affect rate of decomposition. Al ways it is advantageous to hold exhumation & medico legal autopsy on the exhumed dead body or the remains b y Forensic Medicine & Toxicology expert.