THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE

JUNE 1999 ISSUE

THE POISON SLEUTHS

DEATH BY NITRIC ACID

-Dr. Anil Aggrawal

"Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a middle aged man today. He has these strange yellowish stains over his face and chest. What has happened to him? Please tell me."

"Good morning Tarun. The name of this middle aged man is Radhey Shyam, and he was living alone in this house for the last five years. His dead body has been found today morning from his house. His wife and son died long ago, and since then he is living in a very depressed state of mind. He had become alcoholic and had taken to gambling too. He had taken lot of loans from various sources. It is said that from one person Munna, he took as much as one lakh of rupees. Munna was actually a professional money lender and he used to give money at a very exorbitant rate of interest..."

"Oh, I see. But what has all this to do with his death?"

"I am coming to that Tarun. Munna was pressing Radhey Shyam for his money for quite some time. Last week Munna had visited Radhey Shyam's house, along with some of his goons for his money, and when Radhey expressed his inability to return the money for about six more months, Munna had threatened him with grave consequences."

"So Munna has killed Radhey for retaliation?"

"This is what the police thinks. Actually Munna had visited Radhey's house yesterday night too, and had threatened him with grave consequences once again. Today morning they have found the dead body of Radhey. So it is very natural to assume that Munna and his goons have killed Radhey."

"What does Munna say?"

"The police has arrested him. He looks terrified. He is swearing that he has nothing to do with this killing. He does admit that he had visited Radhey yesterday night, and that he indeed was with two of his goons. He also admits that he had threatened Radhey with grave consequences, but he swears he gave those threats merely to terrify Radhey into returning his money as soon as possible. He never intended to kill Radhey. He has also come out with an interesting argument. He says that he would not have got his money anyway by killing Radhey. So killing Radhey was not in his interest anyway."

"Sounds like a valid argument. What do you think doctor?"

"Tarun, as you know, I deal every case from a scientific angle. Are you looking at the yellowish stains over his face and chest and over his clothes?"

"Yeah, they are very prominent. In fact that is the first thing I noticed, when I came here."

"I have looked at his teeth and tongue too. Even they are stained yellow. Come, you also have a look"

"Yes, indeed. But what are you trying to arrive at?"

"Tarun, it seems to me, that Radhey has died because of Nitric Acid"

"Nitric Acid? Never heard of this poison being used to kill anyone."

"Nitric acid is not a homicidal poison. It can not be given homicidally to anyone, because it has such a pungent taste. It is in fact a suicidal poison."

"Looks like we are on to another of your rare and exotic poisons. Doctor please tell me about nitric acid from the beginning."

"Tarun, Nitric acid is a colorless or yellow fuming liquid with an acrid odour. It is a powerful oxidizing agent and reacts with organic matter such as with proteins to produce trinitrophenol or picric acid with the liberation of nitrogen monoxide. This is known as xanthoproteic reaction. Organic matter is thus turned yellow. Stains of this acid on clothing are also yellow, which is a distinctive feature of poisoning by nitric acid. In fact this is how I first suspected that this could be nitric acid poisoning."

"Oh, I see. Can you tell me, what are the symptoms a person experiences when he consumes nitric acid?"

"Sure. The person gets eructations and abdominal distension. Actually this symptom is also seen with other acids such as sulphuric acid, but eructations and abdominal distension are more severe in nitric acid than with sulphuric acid, because with nitric acid more gas is formed. Then, as you know by now, there is yellowish staining of the teeth as well as of the skin around the mouth, cheeks, and neck, which is very characteristic. Yellow stains may also be found on hands, forearms, and the chest because of splashing. In severe cases, the stomach may perforate, but this is unusual."

"Doctor, what is the usual fatal dose of nitric acid?"

"It is around 10-15 ml. Actually one tablespoonful contains about 5 ml of liquid. So about two to three table spoonfuls of nitric acid are enough to kill a person."

"And what is the usual fatal period?"

"It is around 18-24 hours"

"How can a person obtain nitric acid to kill himself?"

"Tarun, nitric acid is widely used in the art and manufacturing industry. It is used for cleansing nickel ornaments and separating gold from other metals. It is also used in the preparation of gun cotton, nitroglycerin, picric acid, and colouring matters. Because of its wide use in industry, and even in domestic affairs, it is commonly available in the market. And because of its easy availability, suicidal and accidental poisoning is quite likely."

"Can a person commit murder with nitric acid?"

"Majority of cases of poisoning by nitric acid are either suicidal or accidental. Homicide with nitric acid is extremely difficult, and perhaps even impossible. Because of the corrosive nature of the acid, it can not be given to an unsuspecting individual, who would immediately discard it on tasting. However forcible administration of this acid in drunk patients has been reported. A forensic expert by the name of Christison describes a case where nitric acid was forcibly poured down the throat of a woman when she was drunk. Nitric acid has also been used in vitriolage, although the use of sulphuric acid is more common for this purpose."

"Excuse me doctor, you have used a new word. I am not quite familiar with this. What is vitriolage?"

"Tarun, vitriolage is intentional throwing of a corrosive substance over the face of an enemy. Often the corrosive substance such as sulphuric or nitric acid is filled up in an old used bulb, and this bulb is then thrown over the face of the victim. A person who commits vitriolage generally does not intend to kill his victim. He merely wants to disfigure him or her. When this bulb smashes on the victim's face, the corrosive substance is released and corrodes the face of the individual. This method is usually employed by disgruntled youths to disfigure the face of beautiful girls who have spurned their love offers."

"Oh, that is really sad. Now in the current case of Radhey, how did you reach the conclusion that he had died of nitric acid poisoning?"

"By his peculiar post-mortem findings. I have already talked to you about his yellowish stains. These yellowish stains have to be differentiated from those of the iodine stains, because they can cause similar stains. However if ammonia or some other alkali is applied to the stains, the ones due to nitric acid deepen in colour to become orange, whereas those by iodine are decolorized. I did this test in this case, and found that these stains were indeed caused by nitric acid only. In addition, I found that his stomach was perforated. This can only happen if the acid has corroded the stomach wall. But I did not stop at that. I took some material from his stomach and chemically tested it in my lab. I have confirmed chemically that the substance which Radhey ingested was indeed nitric acid. Subsequent to this, I asked the police to search his house and look for some suspicious looking half filled bottle. And sure enough they found a bottle of nitric acid in his almirah which was half filled. Now I will tell you what must have happened. Munna indeed visited Radhey's house yesterday along with his goons, and he also threatened Radhey. But he did not kill him. After Munna had left, Radhey got depressed. He anyway was living alone and no meaning to life was left to him. He wanted to commit suicide and the only thing available to him was nitric acid. He consumed this acid and died. Come let us tell the police that Munna has not killed Radhey. He has actually committed suicide."

"Very clever indeed. This was a most interesting discussion doctor. Without your masterly deduction, police could have unnecessarily went on harassing Munna. Everyone might have thought, it was a case of killing by Radhey. Tell me what are you going to tell me the next time?"

"Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison. It is oxalic acid. "