Year: 2025 | Month: October | Volume: 15 | Issue: 10 | Pages: 200-206
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20251023
Demographic Profile and Patterns of Cause of Death in Unknown Dead Bodies – A Three-Year Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital
S. Angayarkanni1, S. Shankar2
1Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Chengalpattu Medical College, Tamil Nadu, India,
2Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Karur Medical College, Tamil Nadu, India
Corresponding Author: Dr. S. Angayarkanni M.D(FM)., D.O.,
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Unknown dead bodies are those dead bodies in which identity not determined till the examination and reporting. It is a great challenge for both police and autopsy surgeons in establishing the identity of these bodies.
Aims: To describe the demographic and medico-legal profile of unknown dead bodies examined in a Tertiary Care Hospital over a three-year period and to identify the patterns and cause of death in these cases.
Methods: Unknown dead bodies brought for autopsies in the year 2022, 2023 and 2024 comprised the materials and the data were collected from the postmortem records
Results: Out of total 5726 dead bodies brought for medico legal autopsy in three years (2022, 2023, 2024), we conducted 455(7.94%) unknown dead bodies examination in which 388 cases (85.30%) were male, female cases numbered 67 (14.70%). Maximum number of 125(27.47%) cases seen in age group 51-60 years, out of which 106(23.30%) were male and 19(4.17%) cases were female. Followed by age group 41-50 years in which 95(20.88%) cases seen out of which 79(17.36%) were male and 16 (3.52%) were female. Seasonal variation seen in our study, maximum cases in winter 199 (43.74%) followed by summer 145(31.86%) and least in monsoon season 111(24.40%) death due to natural cause outnumbered a maximum of 270 (59.34%) of which death by myocardial infarction was higher with 189 (41.54%) cases followed by cerebrovascular accident 45 cases (9.89%).
Conclusion: In spite of digitalization of the world with advanced technologies, fixing of identity is still a challenge because of lack of documenting data related to identification during life.
Key words: Unknown, Mortuary, Autopsy, Seasonal variation, Injuries, Asphyxia, Pathology, Poisoning.