For June 1999 issue

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION

THE IMPORTANCE OF LACERATED WOUNDS

-Dr. Anil Aggrawal

This time I am going to tell you about a very important type of injury which we frequently encounter in our post-mortems. These injuries tell us a lot about how the murder was committed. So important are these injuries, that no forensic expert can be considered a complete expert if he does not know about these injuries.

The injuries I am going to discuss this time are called lacerated wounds. These are special injuries, which in layman’s terms could probably be translated as tears. In fact their very name is derived from this. This word came to English via the French from the Latin words lacer and lacertus meaning torn or mangled.

If you look carefully at these wounds, you would find that the wounds really look like tears (Editor please reproduce figure 001.jpg here). The accompanying figure shows multiple lacerated wounds of the face due to kicking. These types of wounds in fact tell the forensic expert that the attack had been done by some blunt force, such as an iron rod or lathi. If a culprit has been apprehended with a knife or some such other sharp instrument, and the person he is supposed to have murdered is showing all lacerated wounds, then this suspect can be safely ruled out. This is because, there is no way a knife or any other sharp instrument could produce a lacerated wounds. In fact, I have helped the police in many cases precisely because of this important point.

It would be wrong to think that these wounds mimic the shape of the weapon they are caused by. In fact, there is absolutely no correspondence between the shape of these wounds with that of the weapon. So although by looking at the lacerated wounds we can say, they were caused by blunt weapon, we can not give the shape of weapon to the police. That is one limitation we face with the lacerated wounds.

Weapons like shovels also produce lacerated wounds. In the next figure you see two lacerated wounds, which are actually produced by blows with shovels (Editor please reproduce figure 002.jpg here). By seeing these wounds, we can actually say that these wounds were produced by a weapon something like a shovel, and the culprit can be easily apprehended.

Frequently during attempts at killing a person, the killer tries to stifle the cries of the victim. To achieve this, he forcibly closes the mouth and nostrils of the victim, and the victim frequently dies as a result of lack of air. This brute force over the mouth also causes lacerated wounds of the inside of mouth (Editor please reproduce figure 003.jpg here). These lacerated wounds often tell us that this victim was actually killed by someone, and he did not commit suicide. There is no way such wounds can appear in a person committing suicide.

Frequently criminals kill small children by catching hold of them with their feet and then swinging them against the wall. This brute method of killing often produced lacerated wounds on the face and scalp of the child (Editor please reproduce figure 004.jpg here). The accompanying figure shows such a child. By seeing the injuries in this child, I could say that this child had been hit against a wall. Subsequent to my analysis, the police raided the house of the suspect and found blood stains over the walls of his house. The assailant had actually abducted the child from his house and had killed him in his house by hitting him against a wall. He bore a grudge against the parents of this child and hence he did this. Had I not seen the lacerated wounds on the child’s face, it would have been very difficult for me to say, how he actually died. So these lacerated wounds actually helped nab the criminal.

Hitting the head with lathis can produce typical lacerated wounds (Editor please reproduce figure 005.jpg here). In this figure you can see, two deep lacerated wounds. By seeing these wounds, I could say that this person had been hit by a lathi.

Finally a little bit about iron bars. These can also produce lacerated wounds (Editor please reproduce figure 006.jpg here). In the accompanying figure you can see several lacerated wounds produced by an iron bar. In this case too, the lacerated wounds of the person were instrumental in having the criminal caught.

These lacerated wounds when looked through a magnifying lens have very rough edges, and these edges are contused also. This is a very easy way to identify these lacerated wounds.

Needless to say that a study of lacerated wounds is very important in the training of a forensic pathologist. If you happen to see a wound produced in some person, by a blunt instrument, do try to see its edges with a magnifying lens, and you will know how the lacerated wounds look like. You can now also say with pride to your friends, that you know their forensic importance. You could in fact predict to your friend, that he was hit by a blunt instrument, and not by a sharp instrument, and he would be truly surprised by your genius. Well, you and I know that it is no genius, but a victory of forensic science!

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Captions of figures

001.jpg: Multiple lacerated wounds of the face due to kicking.

002.jpg: Multiple lacerated wounds of the scalp produced by two blows with shovel. Contusions are present on the face.

003.jpg: Bruising and laceration of lip in case of homicide. These injuries tend to be missed in the description of external and internal injuries.

004.jpg: Lacerated wounds of the head and face caused by repeated blows against the wall of a room.

005.jpg: Multiple lacerated wounds of the scalp.

006.jpg: Multiple lacerated wounds of the head due to blows by an iron bar.

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(Dr. Anil Aggrawal is a professor of Forensic Medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110002. His E-mail is dr_anil@hotmail.com and his Website address is:

http://members.tripod.com/~Prof_Anil_Aggrawal/index.html

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(Note to the Editor: All figures in the article have to be taken from the accompanying floppy.)

Dr. Anil Aggrawal, M.D.

Professor of Forensic Medicine

Maulana Azad Medical College

New Delhi‑110002