1. MEDICAL ASPECTS OF
HUMAN IDENTIFICATION

2. • The determination of a person based on
certain physical characteristics.
• Establishing identity of a person whether
dead or alive is of paramount importance.
• This is because an individual exists as an
entity in society, and is dealt with as such
by the legal system

3. Reasons for establishing identity:
• Use of identity certificate in criminal or civil
cases eg
Insurance benefits to next of kin
Identification of offenders
Age determination in criminal liability
Identification of bodies for burial purposes.
Interchange of newborn babies in hospital
Disputed sex.

4. • At least 2 identification marks should be
noted by the doctor in all medico-legal
cases.
• Visual identification becomes difficult or
impossible in cases of fire, explosion,
advanced decomposition, mutilation, air
craft accidents or earthquakes.

5. • Identification of the bodies may be a
problem in mass disasters eg air crush or
bomb blast, in charred remains found in a
burnt vehicle or building.
• Identification of a dead victim often helps
the police to trace the victim’s movement,
to know his background, talk to his friends
and find out his enemies.

6. Laws relating to identification:
 Penal Code ( Cap 16).
 Determination of age and criminal responsibility.
 Personation of a person living or dead.
 Births and Deaths Registration Act ( Cap 108)
 Inquest Act (Cap 24)-evidence procurable as to
the identity of deceased is a requirement in
inquest.

7. Identification in the living:
– Usually done by the police to identify perpetrators of
crime.
– By using trace evidence such as bloodstains, hair,
bite marks, finger prints etc.
– Functions such as speech, handwriting, walking gait
may be used.
– Estimation of age of living persons is frequently done
for court purposes
– Also to determine the appropriate charges laid eg for
a minor accused. Or to determine the sentence to be
imposed after verdict.

8. Identification in the dead:
The body may be in one of the following
states:
– Fresh and intact
– Putrefying
– Mutilated or dismembered
– Charred
– Skeletonized.

9. • May be a problem in:
– Mass disaster such as bomb blast, air crash, charred
remains
– In buried or hidden bodies unearthed after a long
time.
• Accurate identification of bodies is essential for
personal and religious reasons.
• Completion of official records , burial or
cremation purposes or for statistics.

10. • Settlement of legal claims eg estate,
debts, property, insurance.
• To facilitate legal investigations, police
enquiries and court cases.

11. Characteristics useful in identifying the
dead:
1. Race and Religion:
• Complexion: of limited value. Black, white,
brown skin.
• Eyes - dark in Indians, blue or grey
Europeans.
• Clothes- dress may be helpful

12. 2. Sex:
• Has to be determined in case of heirship,
marriage, divorce, legitimacy, impotence, rape.
 Sex chromatin ( Barr body), Davidson body ( in
neutrophils) useful for female identity.
 Fluorescent body in males.
 Skeleton: male pelvis android, female
gynaecoid.
 Attachmenmt of muscles- pelvis, skull, and long
bones- rough in males.

13. 3. Age determination:
• Can be determined from teeth, ossification
of bones, secondary sex characteristics
and general development in case of
children.
Age group:
 Foetus and young infant: Look at the
appearance of ossification centres in
growing cartilage ( complete by 5 years.

14.  Child to young adult: Look at fusion of the
epiphyses ( secondary ossification centres
up to 25 years).
Also note appearance of milk and
permanent teeth.
 Adult > 25 years: Look at wear and tear
changes in teeth and bones.

15. Medico-legal importance of age:
2.Criminal responsibility.
o Any act which is done b a child under 7
years of age is not an offence
o A child between 7 and 12 years is
presumed to be capable of committing an
offence,

16. • if he attained sufficient maturity of
understanding to judge the nature and
consequences of his conduct on that
occasion
• A child under 12 years cannot give valid
consent to suffer any harm which can
occur from an act done in good faith and
for its benefit

17. • A person over 18 years can give valid con
sent to suffer any harm which may result
from an act not intended or not known to
cause death or grievous harm
2. Judicial punishment
 A juvenile is a boy who is below 16 years,
or a girl below 18 years

18. • When a juvenile commits an offence, the
court my direct that such a person be kept
in a juvenile home, or special home,
established by government, where there
are facilities for education, vocational
training and rehabilitation
• No deliquent juvenile shall be sentenced
to death or improsonment

19. 3. Rape.
 Sexual intercourse by a man with a girl
under 15 years even if she is your wife, or
with any other girl under 16 years even
with her consent is rape
4. Kidnapping
 Means taking away a person by illegal
means

20. • It is an offence to kidnap a child with
intention taking dishonestly any movable
property, if the child is under 7 years
• To kidnap a minor for purposes of
maiming or begging
• To procure a girl for prostitution

21. 5. Employment
 A child below 14 years cannot be
employed to work in any factory or mine or
any other risky employment
6. Evidence
 Competence for giving evidence depends
on understanding but not age

22. • A child at any age can give evidence if the
court is satisfied if the child is truthful

23. 4. Forensic Odontology( Forensic
Dentistry)
– Useful in routine identification.
– Identification when normal means of
identification fail eg charred bodies, drowning,
fragmentation of bodies, decomposition,
skeletonization.
– Mass disasters.

24. – Bite mark evidence
– Child abuse
– Race, age and gender determination

25. It is important for ;
• Age estimation
• Anomalies of tooth in form and number
• Defects due to occupation or habits
• Lesions produced by accidents
• Crimes, changes occurring after death etc

26. Identification by dentistry.
• Unrecognized individuals killed in
accidents- in comparison with dental
charts and records important eg gold
crowns, on teeth, fixed bridge or partial
dentures
• Age changes and age estimation

27. Phases in tooth development and eruption:
1. utero ( from 16 weeks) to eruption of 1st
tooth at 6 months
2. Primary dentition (milk teeth) from 6
months to 6 years.
3. Mixed dentition: 6 to 12 years.
4. From 12 years on- look at the root
development and eruption of wisdom
teeth.

28. 5. Identification of skeletal remains:
Questions to be answered !!!
• Are the remains actually bone ?
• Are they human ?
• How many sets are there ?
• Are they mixed with bones of another
person or animal?

29. • What is the orientation of bones,? left or right
• How old is the person ?
• What was the gender of the person ?
• What race was the person ?

30. • How tall was the person ?
• What was the condition of the teeth ?
• How long has the person been dead
and/or concealed ?
• What was the cause of death ?

31.  When determining gender as many bones as
possible should be used.
The percentage accuracy of sexing skeletal
remains:
 Skull used alone 90 %
 Pelvis alone 95 %
 Skull & pelvis 98 %
 Long bones alone 80 %
 Entire skeleton + 100 %.

32. 6. Tattoos:
• Huge diversity of skin tattoos.
• Main use is their recognition on bodies of
unknown persons
• Photographs should be taken or drawings
made for circulation.
• Significance- homosexuals, prostitutes,
drug pushers, religion, social status.

33. 7. Finger-prints, palm , foot and lip prints:
• Science of print taking is a matter dealt
with by the police.
• Are impressions of the patterns formed by
the papillary or epidermal ridges of finger
tips.
• No two finger prints identical.
• Even identical twins have different finger
prints.

34. • Even after decomposition (skin slippage)
has set in the skin of degloved finger
remains, and by treating the skin, a finger
print can still be obtained
• In some circumstances palm, foot and lip
prints may be used in identification.

35. 8. DNA finger printing:
• Unique sequences of bases in DNA
strands are used to compare one blood or
tissue sample with another, to investigate
genetic relationship.
• Blood , hair , saliva and semen can be
used for this purpose.

36. • The technique may be used in the
following cases:
– To identify a person in cases where
conventional means of identification are not
possible eg charred body.

37. – To link a suspect to a crime scene or victim.
– In disputed paternity/maternity cases.
– In rape and sexual offences.
– Mass disasters
– Blood or tissue mix-ups in clinical pathology
– Ritual murders ( human sacrifice).

38. 9. Facial Reconstruction from skulls
(Superimposition).
– Technique applied to determine whether the
skull is that of the person in the photograph.
– The photograph need not be front view of the
face, even lateral and semi-lateral view of
face can be useful
– A recent photograph is much preferred.

39. • Photograph is enlarged to natural size.
• If negative of photograph is not available,
negative of available photograph is
prepared by copying it.

40. Identification of a charred body.
• Is difficult exercise and the following signs/tests
may be used to determine identity.
• Radiology- xrays of the body can be used to
exclude missile injury, identifying prostheses,
parts of a weapon and dental work.
• Teeth- antemortem records of dental work
compared with postmortem remains. Is a good
indicator of age.

41. • Characteristic features of individual( stigmata)-
congenital anomalies, scars, absent organs
and prostheses.
• Clothing- fragments of clothing may be found
in hidden areas of armpits and groin.
• Finger prints- can be extracted from a charred
body.
• Internal viscera- presence of prostate or
uterus- gender of victim.

42. END