Forensic Medicine

1. Personal Identity
Dr M. HAMMAD

2. Personal Identity
• It means establishment of
individuality of a person.
• In medico-legal cases identification is
very important in living as well as in
dead.
• May be
1) Complete identity
2) Incomplete or partial identity

3. Complete Identity
•Absolute fixation of individuality of a person.
•When the person is known by his name
with complete address it is known as
complete identity.

4. Incomplete identity
• In certain circumstances only other
details like age, sex etc can be
established that is called partial
identification.

5. Medicolegal aspects
In living , in civil courts, identification is
required in cases:
• Marriage
• Disputed sex
• Inheritance
• Insurance
• pension
• any crime , such as murder, rape,
assault

6. Medicolegal aspects
In dead, identification is required:
1. In cases of fire, explosion and accidents.
2. When an unknown dead body is found.
3. In cases of decomposed bodies,
fragmented bodies, mutilated body or
skeletal remains.

7. Corpus Delicti
• Means body of offence or body of
crime.
• In case of homicide, it includes:
1) Positive identification of dead body
2) Proof of its death by the criminal act of
the accused.

8. • National Identity card ( N.I.C.)
• Facial photograph
• Identity mark like mole and scar.
• Signature
• Thumb impression
• Address.

9. • When identity card not available
• Difficulty arises in cases of :
Victim of traffic accident
Lost memory patient
Wanted criminals
Absconding soldiers
Mixed up babies in maternity ward
Cases of impersonation.

10. Methods of determination of
personal identity
• Three methods
1)Third party method
2)Subjective method
3)Objective method

11. Third party method
• Most commonly used.
• Two principal parties : An examiner &
examinee
• Relative or friend --- third party
• Name ,N I.C no. of examinee.
• Relationship with examinee.

12. Subjective method
• When third party is not available---
morphological data of examinee collected.

13. Subjective method
Morphological data collected from:
1. Physical characters of body,
( like facial features)
2. Belongings of examinee

14. Subjective method
At the time of Medicolegal examination
clues or characters recorded in fullest detail.
• Personal identity data can be classified as :
1) Anatomical data.
2) Physiological data
3) Pathological data/parameters
4) Genetic data

15. Anatomical parameters.
• Primary data : which present at the time
of birth.
• Secondary data; which develop and
appear subsequently at various stages of
life. Like secondary sex characters and
degenerative changes.

16. • Physiological parameters are gait,
voice, tone and manner of speech.
• Pathological parameters are about
diseases like eczema, scars or calcified
fibroid.
• Genetics parameters like blood groups,
barr bodies.

17. Objective Method
• Utilization of morphological data and
belongings data
• Useful in cases of decomposed and
mutilated remains
• Remains are sorted to separate Biological
and Non-biological materials
• Non biological materials
• Biological stains or traces

18. • Biological group includes body fluids and
tissue. Like hair, nails, blood, saliva,
semen, CSF, urine, vomit, excreta.
• Non biological group includes;
• Clothes, wristwatch, purse
• Leaves, grass,
• Bottles, tablets, bullets, pellets etc.

19. Parameters of Identification
1. Age
2. Sex
3. Race
4. Anthropometry (Bertillon’s System)
5. Identity marks
a. Congenital
b. Acquired
6. Dental Data
7. Hair and eyes
8. Dactylography
9. Blood components

20. 10. Diseases
11. Possessions
12. Photographs

21. • Medicolegal dictum
At least two important marks of
identification must be noted
 Where no distinct mark is available , left
thumb impression may be taken

22. E. Locard introduced the concept of
use of the trace evidence as means
of personal identity.
• Locard`s exchange principal states that:
• Every contact leaves a trace
• Exchange of trace is a two way process.

23. Trace evidence
is material left on the scene or body
of a victim or assailant, which
subsequently helps in identification
of the source from where it has
originated.
• Like biological and non biological group.