Identification - According to K.S. Narayana Reddy (FMT)

Definition

Legal Issues - When Is Identification Necessary?

Persons requiring identification:

1. Living persons
2. Recently dead persons
3. Decomposed bodies
4. Mutilated bodies
5. Skeleton

Situations requiring identification:

1. Criminal cases - persons accused of assault, murder, rape, etc.
2. Civil cases - disputed wills, identity of heirs, insurance claims
3. Medicolegal cases - unknown bodies, disasters, mass casualty events

Identification Data (Checklist)

1. Race and religion
2. Sex
3. Age
4. General development and stature
5. Complexion and features
6. External peculiarities - moles, birth marks, scars, tattoos

Primary Characteristics of Identification

• Sex
• Age
• Stature

Methods of Identification

1. RACE

• Complexion: Indians - brown skin; Europeans - fair; Negroes - black
• Eyes: Indians - dark-eyed
• Skull morphology and nasal index also help

2. SEX

• External genitalia (in living)
• Skull differences:
  • Male skull: Forehead receding, orbital ridges prominent, orbits square, mastoid process large, muscle ridges marked
  • Female skull: Forehead high, orbital ridges not marked, orbits rounded, mastoid process small, muscle ridges faint
• Pelvis:
  • Male pelvis: Narrow, heart-shaped inlet, sub-pubic angle acute (<90°)
  • Female pelvis: Wide, oval inlet, sub-pubic angle obtuse (>90°)
• Chromosomal sex (Barr bodies in females)

3. AGE

• Teeth eruption - primary (milk) and permanent teeth timing
• Bone ossification and fusion - epiphyseal union
• Skin changes - wrinkling, greying of hair
• Radiological methods - bone age estimation

4. STATURE

• From long bones using regression formulae (Pearson's formula, Trotter and Gleser formula)
• Most reliable bone: Femur
• Stature = 2 x length of femur + 65 cm (approx.)

5. FINGERPRINTS (Dactylography)

• Developed by Sir Francis Galton and Sir Edward Henry
• Patterns: Loops (most common ~65%), Whorls (~30%), Arches (~5%)
• Properties: Permanent, Infallible, Universal, Classifiable
• Identification established if 12-16 ridge characteristics (minutiae) tally (in India, 8 points suffice)

6. FOOTPRINTS (Podogram)

• Used at crime scenes
• Useful for barefoot individuals

7. PALATO PRINTS

• Rugae of the anterior palate are individual-specific and permanent
• Used like fingerprints

8. LIP PRINTS (Cheiloscopy)

• Divided into 8 patterns
• 24 characteristic details identified
• Identification established if 7-9 characteristics tally

9. EAR PRINTS

• Shape of ear lobes and tips of ears are of various types
• Transparency of ear print at scene overlaid and compared with suspect

10. NOSE PRINTS

• Lines on the nose and shape of the tip are characteristic

11. DENTAL IDENTIFICATION (Forensic Odontology)

1. Restorative work
2. Unusual features
3. Antemortem vs. postmortem X-ray comparison

Particulars noted for individual dental identification:

1. Number, spacing, and situation of teeth present:
   • Unerupted and deciduous teeth
   • Permanent teeth
   • Decayed teeth
   • Under/oversized teeth
2. Number and situation of absent teeth
3. Extraction evidence - old or recent, healed or unhealed
4. General condition: erosion, cleanliness
5. Fillings, crowns, bridges, dentures
6. Injuries, fractures

12. DNA PROFILING

• Most definitive method of identification
• Remains unchanged throughout life
• Useful in: identification of unknown bodies, disaster victim identification, paternity disputes
• DNA from blood, semen, hair roots, saliva, teeth, bones

13. CORPUS DELICTI

• "The body of the offence"
• Bones are sometimes brought forward to support false charges
• Conviction does not necessarily depend on corpus delicti if there are eyewitnesses or strong corroborative evidence

Special Methods in Mass Disasters / Decomposed Bodies

• Visual identification - difficult in fires, explosions, advanced decomposition, mutilation, aircraft accidents, earthquakes
• Anthropometry (Bertillon System) - measurements of fixed bony parts; now largely replaced by fingerprints
• Superimposition - skull-photo superimposition (Glaisyer method) to confirm identity
• Radiological comparison - antemortem vs. postmortem X-rays
• DNA profiling - gold standard in such situations

Summary Table

Source: Based on The Synopsis of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology by Dr. K.S. Narayan Reddy (29th Edition, 2017, Jaypee Publishers) and Essentials of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (33rd Edition) by K.S. Narayan Reddy & O.P. Murty.