Frequently asked questions General What is an electronic journal? An electronic journal is a scholarly publication made available exclusively in digital format, accessible via the Internet. Unlike traditional print journals, it leverages the flexibility and speed of the web, allowing for immediate global dissemination, interactive content, and multimedia integration. Why is your journal titled Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology? Wouldn’t a simpler title, such as Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, be more appropriate? The journal bears my name to clearly identify the editorial leadership and maintain accountability for content quality. This practice ensures transparency and reflects the personal commitment behind the journal’s establishment and ongoing standards. It is a deliberate choice to build trust and credibility in an era of proliferating online publications. But isn't it somewhat unusual for a journal to be named after its editor? Indeed, it is unconventional. However, the name reflects the pioneering nature of this project—an initiative deeply driven by a single individual’s expertise and passion for forensic sciences. It symbolizes responsibility and personal stewardship over the journal’s integrity and quality. What is the frequency of publication of this journal? The journal publishes biannually, issuing two comprehensive editions per year, each presenting the latest advances and research in forensic medicine and toxicology. How many electronic journals currently exist on the internet? There are numerous electronic journals available online—approximately a dozen that I have personally accessed and linked on our homepage. However, Anil Aggrawal’s Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology remains a pioneering publication as India’s first true electronic journal across all disciplines and the world’s inaugural electronic journal dedicated to forensic medicine. This landmark journal was launched on February 25, 2000. Are the papers published in this journal peer-reviewed? Who are the editors? Yes. All submissions undergo a rigorous peer-review process before publication. The journal is guided by an International Board of Editors, comprising at least two subject-matter experts from each continent. For a full list of editors and their affiliations, please refer to the International Board of Editors page on our website. Can I cite articles from this journal in my book or academic papers? If so, how? Absolutely. Citing electronic journal articles is now standard academic practice. You are encouraged to reference our papers in your scholarly work. Detailed citation guidelines are available on the Instructions for Authors page. Do electronic journals simply act as repositories for papers rejected by traditional print journals? Not at all. The academic landscape has evolved significantly. Electronic journals are now widely respected, and many researchers specifically choose to submit to them. All papers published in this journal have been written and submitted exclusively for consideration here. Moreover, our journal has a distinct editorial scope and mission that sets it apart from conventional print journals. As outlined on our Home page, we embrace the unique capabilities of digital publishing—such as multimedia integration and broader accessibility—making it a purposeful and independent platform, not a fallback option.

Forensic Science Fiction

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE JULY 1999 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY OXALIC ACID -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a middle age man today. He shows some strange marks around his mouth. How did he die? Please let me know." "Good morning Tarun. The name of this unfortunate man is RadheyShyam. He is about 45 years old. He is living in a slum cluster of Delhi for the last several years. Some years back he was a fairly well-to-do man, but then suddenly his fortunes took a turn and he became quite poor. His wife and children deserted him, and he came to live in a shady slum cluster. He used to pick up odd jobs for his livelihood. He was very much in debt too, for the last so many months." "Oh, so you think one of his creditors killed him?" "I didn't say that. Although the police is investigating along those lines. He had taken about Rs. 25,000 from one Kale over a period of last few months, and Kale was pressing him to give his money back. Radhey Shyam had no means to pay him back his money. Yesterday night Kale had visited him. Everybody in the slum cluster saw him coming to his house and then leave surreptitiously. Nobody thought that he would go to such an extent as to kill him. Radhey's dead body was found in his house today morning. For all intents and purposes, it appears that it is Kale who has killed him." "So he killed Radhey Shyam, when he realized he is not going to get his money back. Perhaps it was his way of telling his other debtors that they must pay up or face dire consequences?" "Again this is the line police is investigating on. The police has arrested Kale and are questioning him. But Kale is swearing he did not do anything to Radhey Shyam. He does admit that he went to Radhey's house, but he simply gave a threat and came back. But police does not agree with his version. As for me, I generally don't give my opinion till I have examined all the facts, and especially till I have done the post-mortem. I have seen some strange things in this case, which tells me that it is probably not a case of homicide, but of suicide." "What makes you think that?" "Tarun, look at the strange whitish streaks running downwards from his mouth. You yourself remarked about them, when you first came here. Do you know what they are? They are in fact corrosion lines generally found when a person drinks acid. And let me tell you, acid is so corrosive, it is almost impossible to give it homicidally. Acid can only be taken by a person who wants to commit suicide. For instance if Kale had wanted to give Radhey this acid, he couldn't have done so, even if he had brought it mixed in some foodstuff, say, milk. The reason is that Radhey would have immediately discarded the milk after just the first sip." "So you think Radhey drank this acid to kill himself. But why would he do that?" "Radhey was upto his neck in debts. So it doesn't seem entirely confounding that he committed suicide. The question is which acid did he drink. And if we can find the half empty bottle of that acid from his house, our work is done. Finding a bottle of corrosive in the house is another proof that Radhey did commit suicide. Had Kale by any chance given him the acid, he would not have committed the blunder of leaving the bottle behind." "Yeah that seems fairly plausible. Which acid did he drink doctor? I am sure that this is an important question for you to answer, because the police as well as the court would be very interested in knowing the answer to this question." "Tarun, I have examined the stomach and kidneys of Radhey. And I have come to the conclusion that Radhey has drunk Oxalic Acid." "What? Oxalic Acid? Doesn't sound like a very common suicidal poison to me. How in the world did he get hold of Oxalic acid in the first place?" "Tarun, Oxalic acid is a constituent of many household products. It is found in many disinfectants, household bleach, metal cleaning liquids, antirust products and furniture polish. Its chemical formula is (COOH)2. Oxalic acid is a crystalline, colourless substance which is efflorescent. This means that it tends to become powdery on account of loss of water of crystallization. Its solubility is 1 in 12 in water. It is called Oxalic acid, after Greek "oxalis", which means sorrel. It occurs in the sorrel plant, and because of this the French chemist Lavoisier, in 1787, named it Oxalic acid." "Oh, that is really very interesting. Does it occur in other plants too?" "Oh yes. It occurs in the leaves and young stalk of rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum), spinach and even cabbage. I must tell you that sorrel is a succulent acid herb used in salads. Accidental poisoning has been known to occur after a hearty meal of rhubarb or sorrel. Food rich in oxalate can also lead to kidney stones, because kidney stones are generally made up of oxalates." "Oh, that is really very interesting information." "Tarun, crystals of oxalic acid are similar in appearance to those of magnesium sulphate - also known as Epsom salt- and zinc sulphate. Because of this similarity, cases of accidental poisoning have occurred. Magnesium sulphate in doses of 15 g is used as a laxative, and is non-toxic. Since oxalic acid - a dangerous poison - is so similar looking to Epsom salt - a commonly used drug - it is necessary to be able to differentiate between the two. If the doctor or the nurse fails to differentiate between the two, accidental poisonings may occur. You may be interested to know that two patients at a mental hospital in Scotland died in 1956 after receiving doses of oxalic acid administered in mistake for Epsom salts. Zinc sulphate is also a commonly used drug. It has been used in such skin diseases and infections as acne, ivy poisoning, lupus erythematosus, and impetigo. Don't worry about the confusing disease names. What I want to impress upon you is that even zinc sulphate is a commonly used drug, and whenever a commonly used drug looks very similar to a dangerous poison, it becomes very necessary to be able to differentiate between the two." "So how do doctors differentiate between the two?" "Well, if you taste a small amount of crystal of each, oxalic acid is sour in taste, magnesium sulphate is nauseatingly bitter and zinc sulphate is metallic bitter. But surely, this is not the best of the methods to find out a poison. The reaction of oxalic acid is strongly acidic, that of zinc sulphate is slightly acidic, and that of magnesium sulphate is neutral. On application of heat oxalic acid sublimes while the rest of the two salts remain fixed. When you react each salt with sodium carbonate, oxalic acid shows effervescence, but no precipitation, while the other two salts show no effervescence, but a white precipitate. But perhaps the easiest test is to see if stains of ink or iron moulds disappear by a solution of one of these salts. While a solution of oxalic acid makes the stains disappear, the other two salts can not do that. In fact, that is why oxalic acid is used in products like ink removers and furniture polishes. Oxalic acid, as I have already told you, is used in households as a bleach to remove stains or to clean metals, notably brass or leather, and also in calico-printing. It was widely used when the straw hat industry flourished, during 1880-1910. Potassium oxalate is also used to remove ink stains and to cleanse metals. Solutions of oxalic acid and oxalates should never be left unguarded, since the colourless, and odourless fluid may readily be mistaken for water. However the taste is sour as I have already told you, so an unsuspecting person may take it, but would be quick in discarding it." "Can oxalic acid be used for homicide?" "No Tarun, that is not possible. That is why I think Kale is innocent. Because of its sour taste, it has not been used for homicide very much. Oxalates have however been used to procure abortion by vaginal injection. This is done by quacks who are approached by unmarried girls who have conceived due to premarital relations. But I may tell you that now no girl needs to contact such quacks. Now the law allows even unmarried girls to approach a properly qualified doctor in a government hospital to have an abortion done." "Doctor, how does oxalic acid affect the human body?" "Tarun, oxalic acid has both a local, and a systemic action on the body. By local action, I mean the action of stomach and intestinal walls with which it comes in contact. By systemic effect, I mean remote effect on organs with which it does not really come in contact. Oxalic acid readily corrodes the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. Unlike corrosive mineral acids and alkalies - like hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid and nitric acid, oxalates do not lose their poisonous properties when diluted. On the contrary, dilute solutions of oxalates, can cause grave systemic effects. Oxalic acid however rarely damages the skin." "So these are the local effects of oxalic acid. What are its systemic effects?" "Large doses of oxalic acid can cause death due to shock. Oxalates can readily combine with the calcium ion in the body tissues, causing a precipitous fall in the level of ionized calcium. This can cause muscle irritability, tetany and convulsions, and irregular action and slowing of the heart. I may remind you that all muscle cells in the body are very much dependent on calcium for their proper functioning, and it includes heart muscle too." "Yeah I do know about that. Doctor, what are the signs and symptoms of oxalic acid poisoning?" "The symptoms of oxalic acid poisoning are modified by the size and concentration of the dose. A large concentrated dose would kill within a couple of hours by shock or hypocalcaemia, i.e. lowering of calcium levels in the blood. A large dilute dose would cause kidney failure. Depending on the size and concentration of dose, the clinical picture may vary. Fulminant poisoning occurs when a large concentrated dose of about 15 gms or more is taken. This is actually the lethal dose of oxalic acid. The clinical picture is dominated by gastrointestinal symptoms. There is immediate sour or bitter taste, associated with a burning sensation in the mouth, throat and food pipe because of the corrosive action of oxalic acid. Agonizing pain in the epigastrium, which soon spreads all over the abdomen associated with tenderness is seen. There is eructation, distension of abdomen, thirst, nausea and vomiting. The vomitus has a "coffee ground" appearance, because oxalic acid badly corrodes the stomach walls. There may be bloody vomiting for the same reason. Finally shock supervenes and death occurs. Acute poisoning occurs when a moderately large dose is taken and in such cases, the survival is upto 48 hours. The clinical picture is dominated by symptoms due to hypocalcaemia rather than due to gastrointestinal upset. These are muscle irritability, tenderness, tetany, convulsions, numbness and tingling of the finger tips and legs, cardiac irregularity, slowing of the heart, ventricular fibrillation (irregular and fast beating of the ventricles of the heart). In some patients, oxalates may have a narcotic effect. Delayed poisoning may occur when a smaller dose is taken. The clinical picture is characterized by symptoms of renal failure and uraemia. Death occurs in 5-14 days. I may tell you that the fatal dose of oxalic acid is about 15-20 gms, and the fatal period is 1-2 hours." "Doctor, in the case of Radhey, how exactly did you make out that it was a case of oxalic acid poisoning?" "Tarun, my first lead was given by these strange streaks running downwards from the angles of the mouth. Burns of the skin are actually quite rare in oxalic acid poisoning. Corrosion of the mucous membrane of the GIT, starting from lips is common. There is whitening or yellow-white discoloration of the lips, lining of the mouth, and upper surface of the tongue. The mucous membrane of the mouth gives an appearance similar to scalding. This is exactly the picture that I saw in Radhey Shyam. Then I got curious and did the post-mortem. I was very much interested in seeing his stomach. The lining of the stomach in oxalic acid poisoning is blackened by the production of acid haematin. There may be superficial corrosion. The stomach may contain fresh or altered blood. Furthermore, crystals of calcium oxalate can be demonstrated in scrapings of the stomach mucosa. Radhey Shyam's stomach showed all these findings, and I even could chemically demonstrate oxalic acid crystals sticking to his stomach mucosa. The kidneys of a person dying of oxalic acid poisoning are congested and swollen with oedema. The tubules contain oxalate crystals. The renal tubules are necrosed, which in plain and simple terms means that they are dead. I could demonstrate oxalic acid crystals even in the renal tubules of Radhey. I am sure it is a case of Oxalic acid poisoning. Lo and behold, here comes the policeman with the half empty bottle of Oxalic acid from Radhey Shyam's house. I had earlier sent him to Radhey Shyam's house to look for oxalic acid bottle. Now it is clear that it is a case of suicidal poisoning by oxalic acid. The police will now not harass Kale and would release him from custody." "Oh yeah, I am sure, the police will do that. This was a most interesting discussion doctor. Tell me what are you going to tell me the next time?" "Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison- Digitalis. "

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-14 CONTUSIONS - THE VITAL EVIDENCE A remarkable case came to me in the summer of 1992. Bali Ram, a nine‑year‑old stepchild of Hari Ram and Bhairon Devi had fallen down the stairs and had fallen down the stairs and had died. Actually, when he fell down the stairs, there was a big hue and cry in the neighborhood. Some neighbors came to the spot immediately and brought the child to LNJP casualty. The child was declared dead on arrival and sent to me for post mortem examination. A few facts about the family may be said her, before we go on further. HariRam had lost his first wife Kasturi about 5 years back. She had died of tuberculosis. Bali Ram was Kasturi's son. After Kasturi's death, Hari Ram became a recluse for almost two years, but gradually the shock of his wife's death faded and Hari Ram married for the second time. From the beginning, it was apparent that Bhairon Devi, the new bride hated Bali Ram intensely. In the beginning, she would merely ignore him but gradually she started handing him more severe punishment. She would often beat him and deny him food. I got this history from the neighbor. The moment I got this history, I became very cautious and decided to look for clues that might give me the correct story. The boy had died from head injury which he had sustained during the fall from stairs. There were several fractures on his skull, and the brain inside showed blood clots. This was ample proof that he had indeed fallen down the stairs. However, the clues that could give me some 'behind‑the scene' story still eluded me. Finally I turned over the body and looked for injuries more closely. There were several contusions on the back. these are also known as bruises. In common parlance, in Hindi, we know these as " Neel ". These are commonly caused by blunt force application. I had looked at these contusions before starting the post‑mortem, but at that time I thought that they were produced by fall from stairs. Contusions can indeed be produced by a fall from the stairs. However, when I looked at them closely, I found them to have some pattern. These contusions are known as patterned contusions and are quite helpful in the forensic work. They tell us the shape of the object which was used to hit the deceased. If the hitting object was a lathi or an iron rod, the contusions would be linear in shape. If a hockey stick was used to beat the deceased, the contusions would take the shape of hockey stick and so on. Look at the figure A and you would realize that the contusions indeed have a pattern. I tried to decipher what the object could be, but the exact object eluded me. Then suddenly, like a flash of lightning, the object came to my mind. It had to be a coat‑hanger. The contusions looked exactly like that. I told this fact to the police officer Tejpal. I thought that Bali Ram was first mercilessly beaten by Bhairon Devi and then pushed down from the stairs. If this point of view could be proved, it would change the whole scenario from an accident to murder! The case was beginning to take a serious turn. Bhairon Devi was summoned by Tejpal, the investigating officer, and questioned. She reaffirmed that Bali Ram had indeed fallen down the stairs and she hadn't beaten him. She asserted that she loved Bali Ram like her own child. How ever her neighbors refused to confirm her assertion that she loved Bali Ram like her own child. They asserted that she often beat Bali Ram. Finally Tejpal decided to search her house. The specific thing he was looking for, was the hanger with which Baliram was supposed to have been beaten. Finally he indeed found the hanger and brought it to me. When I matched the shape of the hanger with that of the contusions, the shapes corresponded completely. (See figure B). This testified that the boy was indeed beaten. This evidence broke Bhairon Devi and she confessed the whole crime. She was duly prosecuted by the court on my evidence and sentenced to life imprisonment. This case amply illustrates, how a seemingly trivial clue can turn a case entirely.

< Back To Main Page. LinkedIn WhatsApp X (Twitter) Facebook Copy link Anil Aggrawal's Book Review Journal Volume-15 Number-1 (July -December) Book Review (Technical Section) Basic Sciences as applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology by Anil Aggrawal Publisher: Arya Publishing Company, India (1st edtion) Pages: XVIII + 301 Publication Date: 2025 ISBN: 9789360590864 Language: English Read >

Forensic Jokes, Puns & Tidbits FORENSIC LIMERICKS 1. The science of Medicine Forensic has applications prolific It's the use of medicine For detection of sin, There's little to do with treatment of the sick 2. There was a woman from a nation, Who had twins and to one's consternation, One was black, the other white, A truly awkward sight, Sure enough, it was superfecundation. (Both of the above composed by Professor Anil Aggrawal) The limericks may not be very elegant, but I composed these to show what can be done with this new genre. Could you contribute more limericks of better quality please? 3. Henceforth the trouble begins For the careless lady who sins her spouse may request the HLA test in case of biovular twins N.B. This limerick appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 300, No. 1, Jan 4, 1979 at page 50 in response to an earlier paper Twins with two different fathers identified by HLA by Paul I. Terasaki Ph.D. et al, appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 299, No. 11, Sept 14, 1978 at pages 590-592. This is one of the rare examples of a medical limerick appearing in a respectable medical journal. If you are aware of more examples, kindly let me know. Thanks. OTHER LIMERICKS IN SCIENCE During my younger days, it was my hobby to devise science limericks. But since I don't know anything about "metres", they were almost invariably unmetred. Once I sent a whole lot of them to Khushwant Singh, the famous Indian writer, and quite surprisingly he reproduced two of them in the weekly magazine Sunday of 30 August - 5 September 1987, at page 9 (with acknowledgement to me of course). That assured me that at least those two were alright. I am reproducing those two here for the benefit (?) of readers. 1. There was a computer scientist from London Who had with binary digits lots of fun When asked his age Replied the sage "I'm 100001" 2. There was a young prodigy from Sevagram Who was muttering PQR... in his pram Said a guest, "He's precocious" Replied his father, "Yes! These days he is learning electrocardiogram."

Forensic Science Fiction The mystery of the dead infant I had just got up from the bed. It was a nice Sunday morning, and lazily I asked my wife to prepare a cup of coffee for me. Tarun, my son brought me the newspaper, and just when I sank further deep in my bed anticipating a nice sunny Sunday morning, with a cup of coffee in one hand, and the newspaper in the other, the telephone bell rang. “Who is it?”, I asked somewhat impatiently. “Sir, I am the Sub divisional Magistrate of this hill district located about 200 km from your place. We have a very tricky case on our hands. Could you come immediately please?” and then without waiting for my answer, added. “I am sending the vehicle. It is a Fiat car DL 4C A 6600. It will be there in about half an hour. Please be ready with your post-mortem kit.” “Hell”, I thought, “Why in the world did I chose forensic medicine as a career?” To be honest with you, I chose this career because I love the dead. But probably a minor reason was that by choosing it, I would not be getting any emergency calls. The dead hardly call you on Sunday mornings. And yet, here I was getting calls almost all Sundays. Well, that’s life. I was already quite worked up by the time my wife brought me coffee. I quickly gulped it down, and became ready with my post-mortem kit. The car soon arrived at my house, and in about 6 hours took me away to a nice sleepy little hamlet tucked away in the lap of some very huge mountains. The air was so fresh and invigorating, I was glad I came there. The SDM was waiting for me at the office. “Thank you doctor for coming. It’s already 3 pm. Let us first have some lunch and then we would talk”, and quickly he took me inside. He made some motions with his hands to his subordinates and they all swung in action. Soon trays, plates, cups with nice little eatables started pouring in. What he told me over the lunch was this. Sushila was a 27 year old woman married to Dinesh, and both of them had a happy life. They lived about 5 km from where we were sitting. They had a neighbor called Sitaram, with whom they were having a land dispute for almost one generation now. Their (Dinesh and Sitaram’s) fathers had died while the litigation was on, and now Dinesh and Sitaram were getting on with the litigation. Sitaram had a bad reputation in the area, and he had threatened Dinesh many times with dire consequences if he did not relinquish his claim on that controversial piece of land. However since about one year, the two had buried the hatchet, and were meeting each other regularly at least on social occasions such as Diwali, Holi, marriages etc. The case of course was going on in the court as usual. This is not a very unusual occurrence in our country. Land disputes do go on, while people mix together in social occasions. About a week back Sushila gave birth to her first son in a local hospital. When she started having labor pains - at about 4 pm - she was taken to the local hospital, and admitted there. Soon the word spread among the locality and many people gathered at the hospital. Many of them came with sweets. Dinesh’s mother and Sushila’s parents were there to receive them. Sitaram also came to congratulate the young couple. After exchanging some pleasantries most of them melted away. By the time the baby was born - at about 3 am the next day- only Dinesh, Sushila’s father and Sitaram were outside the labor room. All of them distinctly heard the baby’s cries. Dinesh and Sushila’s father became ecstatic and ran outside to phone their friends. Only Sitaram remained there. When they came back after fifteen minutes after telephoning all the relatives they found Sitaram talking with the doctor in somber tones. They were told that the child had been born dead! They could not believe their ears. They had heard the child’s cries with their own ears. This definitely meant that the child had been born alive. How could the doctor play this fast one on them by saying that he had been born dead. Definitely there was something black at the bottom. When the police made enquiries, both Dinesh and Sushila’s father asserted that they had heard the child’s cries standing outside the labor room. Sitaram was also standing along with them, but when he was asked about it, he said he hadn’t heard any such cries, and may be Dinesh and his father-in-law were mistaken. Sometimes you do listen what you want to listen. This now became a two versus one story, and naturally a lot of doubt started whether the baby had actually cried or not. This was important, because if the baby had cried he had been born alive, and somebody - most probably Sitaram - had killed him. And if the baby had not cried, then it was possible that he was a case of a still born child. Many fingers started raising at Sitaram. He did have an old rivalry with Dinesh, and he had a strong motive to harm him. He was alone for as much as 15 minutes outside the delivery room, and the nurse told to the police that for five minutes after the baby was born, there was no one in the delivery room, as they had to rush to the next room for an emergency case. In these five minutes, it was quite easy for Sitaram to enter the room and -say- strangle the child. Sushila was of course too exhausted to note anything. She had probably passed out for some time after delivery. The doctor and nurse were questioned. The doctor was a young man, who had passed his MBBS only a year back, and had taken up this job to pass his time while he studied for his post-graduate entrance examination. The nurse was also very young and inexperienced. They had probably already sensed some medico legal problems and had become very defensive. Both of them asserted that the baby was born dead. As you can very well understand, things had become very complicated by now with some saying the baby was born alive and others saying he was born dead. The only way to solve this puzzle was to order an autopsy. Since in that little hamlet no expert forensic expert was available, the autopsy was entrusted to a young pediatrician named Dr. Harish. I looked at the autopsy report. It was a fairly nice job, considering it was done by a pediatrician. I certainly could not do a pediatric job as nicely as he had done this forensic job being a pediatrician. He had conducted the hydrostatic test and had found it to be positive and in addition had found several semilunar marks around the baby’s neck. As we all know these semilunar marks indicate nail marks and often form on the neck in cases of throttling or manual strangulation. As regards hydrostatic test, I am sure all of us know about it, but just for recapitulation, it is an interesting test which tells us - the forensic pathologists- whether a baby was born alive or not. The premise is that if the baby was born alive, he would have respired - at least once - and this would fill his lungs with air, making their specific gravity less than that of water. If on the other hand, the baby was born dead, he would not have respired and his lungs’ specific gravity would remain more than that of water. So what one does in such cases is just to dissect out the lungs and put them in water. If the lungs float, the test is positive - meaning thereby that the infant was born alive - and if the lungs sink, the test is negative implicating the opposite conclusion. To be sure, the actual test is much more complicated than this, but this is the gist. There are some problems with the test, with many pathologists claiming that it is not an infallible test, but we will leave aside those controversies for the time being. As I told you, the doctor had made a fairly thorough post-mortem. His conclusions were summed up like this: “The baby had been born alive, and survived probably five minutes. The cause of death was asphyxia due to manual strangulation.” This raised a very strong finger of suspicion at SitaRam, and the police arrested him. The basis of arrest was of course the implicating post-mortem report. But SitaRam was a well-connected man. He contacted someone high up in the political hierarchy, and got an order for a repeat post-mortem. And this post-mortem had to be done by a forensic expert of some standing. That is how I came into this picture. My job was of course to conduct the autopsy again, and find out if the earlier findings by Dr. Harish were alright. I must say, this was not an enviable task. First autopsy destroys many organs, and disturbs their natural relationships with one another. A repeat autopsy is at least ten times as difficult as the first one, yet the SDM had reposed his faith in me, and I had to live up to my reputation. The first thing I did was to talk to SitaRam at length. Now after remaining in this specialty for almost 25 years now, I have developed a knack of sensing when a person is speaking the truth. I don’t know how I do it, but I can give you some pointers. When you question a suspect, look straight in his eyes. If his eyes flinch, he might be speaking a lie - otherwise he would look straight at you too. Look at his fingers, and observe any fine tremors there. Look at his Adam’s apple, while he is speaking and look for the very faint quivering there. Touch his hands and see if he has just those tiny traces of sweat on his hands. These little things tell me if the person is speaking the truth. An accomplished liar can consciously control his voluntary nervous system, but can’t control his sympathetics and parasympathetics, and they usually give him away. Above all there is this sixth sense which has developed in me, which tells me if the person is speaking the truth. After talking to Sitaram for about an hour, I was convinced he was not the murderer. He was definitely at loggerheads with Dinesh and Sushila, but he would not go to the extent of killing their new born son. Either the infant had been born dead in the first place, or he had been killed by someone other than Sitaram. There were some difficulties though. First of all, courts don’t act on hunches. They need real proof. I could tell them, I had a knack of knowing a liar, but they would still want scientific proof, and I had to get one. When Dinesh and his father-in-law left the hospital to phone their relatives, their was no one beside the labor room except Sita Ram, so there was no question of someone else killing the new born infant. So I was left with just one option; that the infant was born dead. But what was I to make of the positive hydrostatic test? And furthermore how was going to explain the tell-tale semilunar nail marks on the neck of the infant. That was the main question. Without waiting further, I demanded to see the infant’s body. It was lying in the cold room of the mortuary, and was brought out for me. I looked at him. He was a nice sweet little boy. It was heart-rending to see his chest and abdomen all sewed up (after the first autopsy). I closely examined the so-called nail marks on his neck, and I must say, they were looking quite similar to the usual nail marks that we see day in and day out in cases of manual strangulation. There were no other injuries on the infant’s body. I opened the stitches and examined the internal organs closely. I looked at his lungs, which definitely seemed inflated. I conducted the hydrostatic test again, and it was undoubtedly positive. In addition I conducted some additional tests which the previous doctor had not done. For instance, I also conducted the so-called Wreden’s test (sometimes wrongly called as "Wredin's test"). First suggested by R. Wreden in 1868 (in Otitis media neonatorum), this is a rather dubious test, yet in a case of second post-mortem, it was strongly indicated. If not for anything else, then just for confirmation. For the purposes of recapitulation again, this test relies on the fact that a fetus’s middle ear contains jelly like material till he resides in the womb. When he is born and takes a deep breath, his Eustachian tubes open and air enters through them to the middle ear. So if you find a small bubble in the middle ear, you can be quite sure, the baby was born alive. On the contrary if you find just jelly like material in the middle ear, the baby was most probably born dead. Again this is a highly controversial test, and no pathologist worth his salt performs this test these days. But as I told you earlier, this was a case, where we were leaving no stones unturned. [More information on Wreden's test for the more scientific minded amongst you. In 1873 - five years after the initial report by Wreden - another scientist Wendt reported in Arch. f. Heilkunde that if the infant respired when he was immersed within the amniotic fluid, one could detect even amniotic fluid in the middle ear of such babies. Based on the researches of these two scientists, the test is often known as Wreden-Wendt test, or Wreden-Wendt tympanic cavity test. One may also want to go through the following paper for the details of the test:Jobba G, Sandor T. (1971) Medicolegal evaluation of the Wreden-Wendt tympanic cavity test [Article in German]. Z Rechtsmed 69(3):173-6 Or you may want to click on the following link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=5170412&dopt=Abstract ]. Wreden’s test also came positive and I was quite depressed. The baby had indeed been born alive. So depressed was I that I came back to my hotel, and tried to sleep. Tried hard as I would, I couldn’t sleep. After sometime, I went out for a walk in the mountain roads. The fresh air invigorated me. After about one hour of aimless stroll, I came back and slept. Probably I kept dreaming of the case. I know this because at 4 am, I suddenly got up. I had probably dreamt something strange. I kept sitting for some time, and then I remembered there was a phenomenon called vagitus vaginalis, which is such a rare phenomenon, that most people take it as a myth. Here we might be dealing with a case of vagitus vaginalis. You might be wondering what this strange term means. Let me explain. In the nineteenth century, there were a number of reports by reputed obstetricians, which stated that a fetus can in fact respire while he is still in the vaginal canal. He can emit a cry in the vaginal canal, while he is being born! This would be heard as a muffled cry by people standing close by, and anyone would swear he had heard the infant cry. There is a still stranger phenomenon known as vagitus uterinus, in which the baby cries while he is still higher up - in the uterus. Well here we probably had a case either of vagitus vaginalis or vagitus uterinus. These babies who utter such a cry either inside the vagina or uterus may be born alive or dead. If born alive, naturally no problem would occur, but if such babies were born dead, they could land the doctor in severe trouble. Relatives standing outside the labor room would invariably have heard the cry and they would hold the doctor responsible for the death of the baby. They would keep asserting the baby was born alive, and died subsequently due to doctor’s negligence. I personally know of many such cases, in which doctors had to face the patients’ ire. The more I thought about it, the more I got convinced that I could convince any court of law about its possibility. I had xerox copies of all those reports of vagitus vaginalis and vagitus uterinus. And if so many reputed obstetricians had seen this phenomenon, certainly this phenomenon was possible in our case too. But what indeed remained to be explained were the strange looking semilunar marks on the baby’s neck. They did look like nail marks, indicating someone had tried to kill him. If he was born dead, why anyone in the world would try to kill him. I could not solve this problem despite thinking deeply about it. Finally I got tired and slept again. Next day I took out the body of the infant again from the cold room and looked closely at his neck. There were these unmistakable nail marks. There was no doubt about that. I was quite nonplussed. Without having the faintest idea of what I was doing, I began examining his abdominal contents. Suddenly I was gripped with excitement. When I looked near the area of his liver, I found that the baby had not just one, but two ligamentum teres. The previous doctor had probably missed this strange finding. And I wouldn’t blame him for that, for he was so inexperienced. Now before you throw up your arms in despair, let me tell you a little bit about this strange structure. In a fetus, originally there are two umbilical veins which take oxygenated blood from the placenta to the fetus. After sometime, the right umbilical vein disintegrates; only the left persists. After birth the baby starts respiring and this umbilical vein becomes quite redundant. Nature has a way of dealing with this new situation. This umbilical vein obliterates and becomes a ligament like structure in about 3-5 days after birth. This ligament like structure is called ligamentum teres. This is a very useful marker for forensic pathologists. By seeing this structure, they can tell how long the child survived after being born. For instance if we see only the umbilical vein, we can say, that the child died within 3-5 days of being born, but if we see a ligament in its place we would be quite sure that the child survived at least 3 days after being born - probably more. Does that meant, the little child survived 3 days after birth? Not in the least. The child’s death immediately after death was so well documented that there was not an iota of doubt about it. It was probably a case of very early disintegration. Such cases do occur once in a while. But what surprised me no end was that he was showing not just one, but two ligamentum teres. To my feeble mind, the only implication was that his right umbilical vein had not obliterated early in his uterine life. It had persisted till birth and only after that it obliterated. Well, I am no anatomist, and did not want to make any further conjectures on it. So I phoned, one of the best anatomists I know of - Professor J.M. Kaul of our own anatomy department. What she told me over the phone was quite surprising to me. She said that in some lower animals, the right umbilical vein does persist till birth. She was not aware of any case where it was seen in humans, but if I had seen one this must be a case of atavism. You might accuse me of throwing one technical term after other, but I can’t help it. I was taking things as they were coming to me. Thankfully I did know something about atavism, so I did not have to bother her more for that. I thanked her profusely and rushed back to mortuary. Atavism is a technical term which comes from the Latin at, meaning above or beyond and avus, meaning a grandfather. Thus Atavism literally means “above a grandfather”. It refers to a reversion or throw-back of an inherited characteristic which has skipped a number of successive generations. To the best of my knowledge, the presence of a cervical rib in a human being is a good example of atavism. Evolutionarily there has been a reduction in the number of ribs, especially in the region of our pectoral and pelvic girdle (to allow for greater freedom of movement), but every once a while we see persons with cervical ribs. These people are very good living examples of atavism. Well, what about this boy. I dissected his neck, and was amazed to see not just one, but two cervical ribs - both on sixth and seventh cervical vertebra. Are you getting the picture now? This boy was showing several primitive characteristics. In other words, he showed many atavistic characteristics. Probably my salvation lay in him showing atavism. What about neck scales? Lower animals like snakes and crocodiles show scales on their necks, while humans do not. Was it possible that his little boy showed another atavistic character in his neck? Was it possible that those little semilunar marks on his neck were not nail marks, but very primitive scales? I could not rule the possibility out, as this boy was showing so many of the atavistic characters. I am no biologist, and I contacted a very prominent biologist - Dr. Lalji Singh of Hyderabad. He told me to send over some of the skin samples from those semilunar marks, so that he could put them to tests. I did exactly that. He examined them in great detail and his reports really astounded me - well! Not so much after what I had been seeing all throughout. Those semilunar marks were not nail marks at all. They were very tiny scales which were probably again a relic from the past. He had histological reports with him to confirm his findings. Those semilunar marks did not show the structure of skin, but that of scales! So this little child indeed showed a number of atavistic characters. I will now tell you what exactly happened. This child cried probably in the vagina, because of which his hydrostatic test - and other tests depending on respiration - came positive. In fact he died somewhere within the birth canal probably because of fetal distress. In addition, he showed a number of atavistic characters, one of which was tiny scales over his neck, which looked exactly like nail marks. These marks stumped not only the young inexperienced Dr. Harish, but even me. I was very happy when the court accepted my findings, and released SitaRam. He came to me and thanked me no end. I was happy I could do justice to that person. Meanwhile, I am told, Dr. Kaul has written a very good paper on atavism, and is going to Berlin to deliver it there. As for Dr. LaljiSingh, he is trying to find the incidence of atavism in Indian children, taking that child as an example. As for me, I am burdened with more dead bodies and more post-mortems. Well, who cares. The dead are after all ones whom I love most!

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE JANUARY 2000 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY SUCCINYLCHOLINE -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a young boy today. What happened to him? Please tell me.” “Good morning Tarun. The name of this 26 year old young boy is Subodh, and he was a post-graduate medical student in a leading medical college of this city. For the last few months, he was in love with a fellow medical student Rita. Recently she had ditched him and had got married to someone else. This had hurt him very much. Actually a few days before her marriage, he had got a hint that she was going to ditch him. So he had gone to her to plead his case. At that time she was reportedly sitting with his fiancée Suresh, who literally pushed him out. There was a minor scuffle too, and Suresh had threatened to kill him, if he ever troubled Rita again. Today morning Subodh did not report at the O.P.D. his fellow doctors got suspicious, and went to his hostel room. There they found his dead body.” “Oh, that is indeed very unfortunate. So do you think that Suresh has carried out his threat?” “Let us get all the facts straight, before we can say anything. The body of Subodh was lying on his charpoy (a charpoy is a popular hand woven bed used in India mostly by villagers). A syringe was inserted in his leg vein. And there were two empty vials of Anectine lying on the floor beside him.” “What is Anectine doctor?” “Tarun, Anectine is the trade name of a very useful drug in medical practice. Its chemical name is succinylcholine, and it is a very useful drug for surgical operations.” “Oh, so obviously Subodh has not died of Succinylcholine. How has he actually died doctor? And do you think he has committed suicide?” “Why can’t he die of succinylcholine Tarun?” “How can a useful drug kill a person doctor? He must have died of something else.” “This is a mistake Tarun. All drugs are poisons in large doses, and many poisons may act as useful drugs in extremely small doses. Some time back I told you the story of a death by Digitalis (See Science Reporter Death By Digitalis (August 1999, Pages 22-24). Now Digitalis as you know is a very useful drug in several heart ailments, and yet it killed when given in more than the required dose. So it is incorrect for you to think that a useful drug can not kill. Now to your other questions. No one knows how he has actually died, and that is indeed why the police has handed over his dead body to me. As far as your conjecture concerning suicide is concerned, he might indeed have committed suicide. The scene certainly appears as if he has committed suicide. Had the room been locked from inside, and a suicide note found, we would have very strongly thought that he has committed a suicide. But neither was the room locked from inside, nor was any suicide note found. The police knows that Suresh had threatened to kill him some days back. Suresh - like Subodh - is a medical student and knows about drugs like succinylcholine. So it is quite clear that Suresh is the prime suspect with police. In fact, Subodh’s parents have lodged an FIR with the police, naming Suresh as the possible killer.” “Doctor, is succinylcholine very commonly used as a homicidal poison?” “No, not at all. In fact, I am aware of only one instance, when a person has been convicted of murder by succinylcholine. In 1983, a Texas-licensed vocational nurse Genene Jones was tried on a single charge of murder, even though those who had worked with her believed she had been responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen children under her care. In her first 31 days of work for a child specialist, nine incidents of respiratory failure involving eight patients occurred before Jones was finally arrested. She was finally sentenced to 99 years for the murder of one patient and 60 years for the attempted murder of a second. So succinylcholine can definitely be used for homicide, although its use is very rare. But before we come to any conclusions, we have to first prove that Subodh indeed died of succinylcholine poisoning.” “How are you going to prove that doctor?” “Tarun, to do that you must know a little bit about succinylcholine and how it actually kills. Succinylcholine actually mimics a natural chemical within the body, acetylcholine. The function of acetylcholine is to make a muscle contract. Whenever we make any muscular movement- be it walking, running, climbing, even laughing and crying - some muscle has to contract, and in most of the cases, it is the acetylcholine, which makes the muscle contract. First of all, a nerve impulse goes from the brain to the required muscle. Then a tiny amount of acetylcholine is liberated at neuro-muscular junction..” “Doctor, what is neuro-muscular junction?” “Tarun, it is technical name of the junction of that nerve with the muscle. It is also known as the myoneural junction. So I was telling you about acetylcholine, being released at the neuro-muscular junction. This small amount of acetylcholine starts a train of physical and chemical events at that junction, which ultimately leads to contraction of that muscle. Whole of this procedure takes a fraction of a second only. Of course, once acetylcholine has succeeded in making the muscle contract, it must be removed from the junction. For if it is not removed, the muscle would remain in a contracted position. And this can be very disastrous indeed. For instance, when the heart contracts, it is due to acetylcholine making the heart muscle contract. But if this acetylcholine could not be removed, the heart muscle would remain in a contracted state, and no useful purpose would be served. In fact, the person would die within minutes.” “Oh, I see. How does the body remove this acetylcholine then doctor?” “There is another chemical at the junction- acetyl cholinesterase. It destroys the acetylcholine, after it has done its work. Succinylcholine may be regarded as a sister chemical to acetylcholine. Earlier I was telling you that succinylcholine is widely used in surgery. Now you can understand why. In most abdominal operations, the doctors want that the abdominal muscles remain in a relaxed state. If the muscle is relaxed, doctors can make incisions easily, and make several manipulations in the abdomen easily. Succinylcholine is used to relax the abdominal muscles….” “Just a minute doctor. You said that acetylcholine makes the muscles contract, and also that succinylcholine is a sister chemical to acetylcholine. Doesn’t it mean that succinylcholine should also contract the abdominal muscles?” “That is an interesting question, Tarun. Actually succinylcholine belongs to a class of muscle relaxants, known as depolarizers. Let me first tell you the meaning of this new term. Earlier I told you that acetylcholine starts a train of physical and chemical events at the neuro-muscular junction, which ultimately leads to contraction of muscle. One of these events is the reversal of the electric charge normally found on the muscle fibres. In other words, the muscle is depolarized. Since succinylcholine depolarizes the muscle, it is known as a depolarizer or a depolarizing agent. There are several other depolarizing agents. One of these is decamethonium. It also acts very much like succinylcholine. All depolarizing agents, including succinylcholine, initially do act much like acetylcholine, i.e. they cause the muscle to contract. But since doctors give succinylcholine continuously in an intravenous drip, it keeps contracting the muscles. Finally a stage comes, when the muscle is exhausted, i.e. it can no more work. In other words it gets paralyzed. That is why despite acting very much like acetylcholine, succinylcholine paralyses the muscles, while acetylcholine makes the muscles contract. When an animal is injected with succinylcholine, the animal indeed shows repeated contractual movements of the muscles. These repetitive muscular movements have been given the name fasciculations. After a few minutes of fasciculations, the muscles get tired, and paralysis sets in.” “Doctor, is succinylcholine easily available in the market?” “Oh, yes. Succinylcholine is available as injections of Anectine. It is marketed also as a sterile powder. Injections are available in three different concentrations- 20 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml and 100 mg/ml. Now that you have understood some basic facts about succinylcholine, I can tell you, how this drug kills. It repeatedly stimulates and finally paralyses, respiratory muscles. This causes respiratory failure and death. The usual dose in surgical operations is 20 mg, but more can be given too. It is interesting to note that this succinylcholine not only relaxes abdominal muscles, but also respiratory muscles, so the anesthetists maintain the respiration of the patient artificially throughout the operation. If however the same dose is injected by a person for suicidal purposes, or by someone with homicidal intentions, it would easily kill, because there is no one to support the respiration artificially. In other words, the same dose helps a surgeon in operation, and the very same dose would kill a person, if it were given with homicidal intentions.” “Doctor how are we going to prove that Subodh indeed died of succinylcholine poisoning?” “Tarun, in the body, succinylcholine is broken down by enzymes in human plasma, especially by one known as pseudocholinesterase, into succinic acid and nitrogen containing choline. Both of these are normal components of human tissues. That is why it is indeed difficult to say by chemical examination of Subodh’s viscera alone that he died of succinylcholine poisoning. However, I have found the lungs to be swollen and loaded with water. In technical terms we say that the lungs are oedematous. This is a sign that Subodh’s respiration was compromised just before his death. If we couple this finding with other findings at the scene of his death, it becomes very plain and simple that Subodh has died of succinylcholine poisoning. Regarding the manner of death, I do not think, Suresh has injected this drug into Subodh’s body. Subodh would simply not allowed him to do that. It appears that Subodh has committed suicide because of failure in love.” “Doctor, had someone caught him during the act, or just after it, could he have been saved? In other words, what is the antidote of succinylcholine?” “Tarun, unfortunately there is no antidote to succinylcholine. The only thing one could have done is to give artificial respiration as the respiration is compromised in succinylcholine poisoning.” "This was a most interesting discussion doctor. Tell me what are you going to tell me the next time?" "Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison - Gold."

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-36 DEATH FOLLOWING MARIJUANA INTAKE On 12 January 1991, a very interesting case was brought to me. A 33 year old man Kanti was returning home after a party in his car when his Maruti car collided with another car. Besides Kanti there was another person in the car, a 37 year old male Ravindra. Kanti and Ravindra were friends and had gone to a friend's party. Both Kanti and Ravindra died immediately after the collision. The police arrested the driver of the other car, a person called Bhushan, for causing the death of two persons by rash and negligent driving. Bhushan swore that he was driving the car very carefully. In fact it was the other car which was swerving from left to right. It appeared to him that the driver of the other car had been drunk. But the police did not believe him as there was no smell of alcohol from either Kanti or Ravindra's mouth. If, as Bhushan was asserting, the driver of the other car Kanti was drunk, why was there no smell of alcohol from his mouth. The net effect of their conclusion was that Bhushan found himself behind the bars. It was at this stage that the case was brought to me. When I searched the bodies of the two carefully, I found a strange looking contraption in the pockets of Kanti. Some other objects were also found in Kanti's and Ravindra's pockets. All the contents that were found in their pockets are revealed in figure 1 (please reproduce fig XX-27 on page 553 here). I immediately realized what must have happened. I called the investigating officer, and told him that Bhushan had been speaking the truth. The car must really be swerving from left to right as he had suggested. The police officer looked back at me in surprise and said,"But sir, you have hardly had a look at the body, let alone do an autopsy. How could you say that Bhushan is speaking the truth?" "Well, it is my experience with marijuana deaths, my boy!", I said in smug confidence. The readers may be surprised as to what strange objects I found in their pockets which let me make such quick and confident deductions. Well, before going any further, let me tell you a little bit about marijuana . You must all be aware of the terms bhang, charas, hashish and ganja ? These substances are not different. They all come from various different parts of the same plant, called the Indian hemp (Please reproduce fig XX-26 on page 552 here). Botanically its name is Cannabis sativa . More than 400 chemicals have been isolated from the cannabis plant. But the main chemical which is responsible for its pleasurable effects is called delta‑9‑tetrahydrocannabinol or THC . THC is found mainly in the leaves and the flowering tops of the plant. The cannabis plant gives rise to several products with many of which we are quite familiar. Bhang consists of dried leaves and shoots. It is also known by the name of siddhi, patti or sabji . Among the objects recovered from Kanti and Ravindra's pockets was bhang (see upper left of fig 1) . It may be used as such or as an infusion in the form of a beverage, which produces intoxication. The infusion is prepared by rubbing some dried cannabis leaves on a stone slab along with sugar and black pepper. It is than mixed with water and strained through a muslin cloth. This infusion is commonly known as thandai and is usually drunk in our country during the Holi festival. Majun is a sort of confection prepared from bhang by treating it with sugar, flour, milk and butter. In India one can find barfis fortified with bhang . These are rather green coloured instead of the normal white. Sweetmeats like these are called majun . Yet another product which comes from the cannabis plant is ganja . This has a rusty green colour and a characteristic odour. It comes from the flowering tops of female plants, which contains a very strong concentration of THC. While bhang contains only 1 to 2 per cent of THC, ganja may contain upto 5 per cent of THC. The same ganja is known as 'marijuana' or 'marihuana' in the West (both terms are acceptable and correct). While bhang is eaten or drunk, ganja is smoked. About 1 to 2 gm of ganja is rubbed with a little water in the palm till it becomes sticky. It is then mixed with a little tobacco and is smoked in a pipe or chilam . In India sadhus, fakirs and poor laborers often smoke ganja as a form of recreation. In modern society, ganja is being smoked at parties too, especially those arranged and attended by the youth. As my investigations later revealed, both Kanti and Ravindra were coming back from such a party. They both had in fact been smoking marijuana. Westerners smoke ganja (or marijuana as they know it) in cigarettes known as 'reefers' or 'joints'. A thin, special quality paper is taken and about 500 mg marijuana kept in it. It is then rolled in the form of a cigarette. The ends are twisted to avoid any fall out. Sometimes two papers may be used to strengthen the 'reefer'. Marijuana can also be eaten just like bhang , or brewed like tea, but taking it by mouth reduces its effect. While ingestion may take up to an hour to feel the effect, smoking may have an instantaneous effect. Marijuana is sometimes baked in biscuits too (known as 'cookies' or `brownies') and eaten. Smoking marijuana is referred to as 'turning on'. The `reefers' are often wetted with the tongue in order to slow the burning. This does not make the reefer very pleasing aesthetically, but it serves a practical purpose. Quite frequently the 'reefer' is grey, soggy, repulsive looking and unhygienic. Some people prefer a pipe or a 'bong' and the best pipes for this purpose have smaller bowls than ordinary pipes. 'Reefers' or pipes are frequently smoked in groups, the pipe being passed among the people sitting in a dark room in which candles and incense are kept burning. Smokers may either be members of a 'closed', or an 'open' circle. The difference lies in the amount of information that is exchanged about the stuff. In the 'closed' circle, for instance, marijuana is consumed but information like where it came from, is not disseminated. On the other hand, the 'open' circle has no restrictions about discussing the origin, amount, distribution and so forth about the drug. 'Open' circles are thus much more relaxed and intimate. A puff on a 'reefer' is called a toke , and the object is to inhale as deeply and hold it in the lungs as long as possible. Smoking a 'reefer' as if it were an ordinary cigarette would produce little effect. The smoker must hold the smoke deep in his lungs for at least twenty to thirty seconds until it penetrates the lung tissues and enters the blood. A typical 'reefer' contains about 500 mg of marijuana. It we take the THC content of marijuana as about 1 per cent, then the THC content of an average 'reefer' comes to around 5 mg. Many high quality `reefers' may contain up to 1 gm of very high quality marijuana (containing upto 10 to 15 per cent THC). Thus a high quality 'reefer' might easily contain 100 to 150 mg of THC and if sprinkled with hash oil, the potency might be doubled. THC delivery by smoking is 50 per cent efficient. Thus even a low quality 'reefer' delivers about 2.5 mg THC to the body. This is equivalent to 7.5 mg THC taken orally. Many heavy users consume numerous high quality `reefers' each day, thus incorporating almost 150 to 200 mg THC into their bodies. When such a large quantity is taken for two to three weeks and then abruptly discontinued, withdrawal symptoms occur. While the butt of an ordinary cigarette is thrown away, the end of a 'reefer', called the roach because it resembles one, is the most potent part because much of the THC collects there during smoking. It is at least one‑third and possibly half as powerful as the whole 'joint'. Various ways of consuming the roach have been devised, ranging from eating it to the more refined method of smoking it by holding it with a hairpin or some other special device to avoid burning the fingers. Among the objects recovered from Kanti and Ravindra's pockets were some roaches too (see upper right of fig 1). Marijuana is almost never injected intravenously (in stark contrast to heroin). However, some illicit intravenous use has been reported with subjects 'shooting' crude marijuana, but this remains an extremely unusual practice and is accompanied by severe medical complications. Another product from the cannabis plant is charas , also known as hashish in the Western world. Hashish contains 10 to 15 per cent THC and is much stronger than marijuana. Thus bhang, ganja , and charas represent three different varieties of the same drug, but in increasing concentrations. In the underworld of drugs, there is only one other drug which is available in so widely variable concentrations and this is alcohol (although it is more or less socially acceptable, unlike marijuana). A weaker brand of alcohol is beer (which may be compared to bhang ), a stronger is wine (comparable to marijuana) and a still stronger, whiskey (comparable to charas ). Charas or hashish is of a dark green or brown colour. It is the concentrated resin exuding from the leaves and stems of plants. It is very popular with the hippies. When I examined the contents recovered from Kanti and Ravindra's pockets, I became quite sure they were returning from a marijuana party. I have already mentioned that I recovered bhang and roaches from their pockets, but I recovered some other interesting items as well. At the bottom of the fig 1 you can see a strange looking pipe which is actually a marijuana pipe. So it appeared they were smoking marijuana too, besides eating Bhang . Eating and smoking cannabis products can lead to a drunken like state, and that may produce problems in driving. That is how I concluded that Bhushan must be speaking the truth. But I needed to gather more scientific proof-one which could stand the rigors of the cross-examination in a court of law. So I took chloroform swabs from the fingers and the inner aspects of the teeth. Taking chloroform swabs involves wetting a piece of cotton in some chloroform and rubbing it on the area from where you want to take a swab. In this case I rubbed it over the fingers and inner aspects of the teeth of the two deceased persons. If the two had been eating and smoking cannabis products, some cannabis components must be sticking to these areas. The chemical analysis report from the lab confirmed that the fingers and the teeth of the two deceased indeed contained THC, an important chemical found in Cannabis as we have already seen. This was a confirmatory proof that both of them were returning from a marijuana party. Since they had consumed too much Cannabis, they were unable to drive well. This had actually caused the accident and their death. This conclusion led to immediate release of Bhushan from police custody. When the police released Bhushan, he came and fell on my legs. He said that his life had been saved because of me only. The poor fellow did not know that it was not me, but forensic science which had saved him. I only used the science! ( To protect the identity of the individuals, their names, as well as the various dates of occurrence have been changed )

< Back To Main Page. [Epub ahead] Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Volume 27, Number 1, January - June 2026 Contents Papers Posttraumatic Ischemic Brain Stroke After Sharp Neck Injury: A Case Report Based on Autopsy By: Ivan Tsranchev ¹ , Pavel Timonov ² , Stela Yancheva ³ , Kristina Hadzhieva ⁴ , Teodora Gudelova ⁵ , Mirena Sotirova ⁶ , Antoaneta Fasova ⁷ , Elizabet Dzhambazova ⁸ , Petar Uchikov ⁹ Read Ivan Tsranchev

Forensic Toxicology 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. "

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE MAY 1999 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY AFLATOXINS -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a young man today. What has happened to him? Please tell me." "Good morning Tarun. The name of this young man is Suman Dubey. He is 25 years old and unmarried. He died this morning in his rented house. He was living alone in this house. He was basically a farmer, but had recently shifted from his village to live in a suburb of Delhi. He was doing some odd jobs for carrying out his livelihood. But he was also getting assistance from his family in his village. I mean, he used to get most of his food supplies from his village." "That's alright doctor. But how exactly did he die?" "Tarun, I am coming to that. For quite some time he was complaining of some vague symptoms. For instance, he was having pain in the abdomen and loss of appetite. He also noted some loss in weight, and a vague swelling of the abdomen. Since he was from a rural background, he did not believe in modern medicine. He was a staunch believer in traditional medicine only. He kept on ignoring his symptoms for quite some time. Last week he visited his village, where he consulted a local doctor. The doctor, after examination told him, that he was getting slow poisoning from some source. He believed that some of his foe was administering poison to him." "Oh, really? And who was he?" "We don't know yet. But the moment Dubey was told about it, he believed it. In fact, he told his family that his milkman wanted to poison him, and was probably poisoning him by giving him a daily supply of poisoned milk. He was daily taking one liter of milk from a milkman called Ramnath." "But why would Ramnath want to kill him?" "That is exactly the question, Dubey's parents asked him. We know this, because we have now interrogated Dubey's parents. Suman Dubey was unmarried as I have already told you. One day, Ramnath came to Dubey's house to deliver the milk along with his young and nubile sister Sita. Immediately Dubey fell in love with her. Once or twice, when she came alone to deliver the milk to Dubey, he even made attempts to make passes at her. Sita immediately complained about this matter to her brother, who came to his house to resolve the matter. There was a big fight between the two. The whole neighborhood knew about it. After this Ramnath stopped delivering milk to Dubey. This was quite expected. But then quite unexpectedly Ramnath again started delivering milk to Dubey. Dubey was initially quite surprised, but he agreed because in this way, at least he could be in touch with Sita." "Oh, I see" "But when the village doctor told Dubey that someone was trying to poison him, he immediately realized why Ramnath had started delivering the milk to him again. Probably Ramnath wanted to get even with him by killing him. He thought that the best way would be to kill Dubey was by giving him small quantities of poison through the daily supply of milk. So he resumed the milk supply to him." "Oh, it indeed appears to me that Ramnath killed him through slow poisoning. Is slow poisoning possible doctor?" "Oh yes. Arsenic is notorious for this. One could give this poison in very small amounts over a long period of time, and the victim would die of slow poisoning. There are several other poisons which could be used for slow poisoning. Dubey's parents have lodged a strong complaint against Ramnath, and the police has apprehended him. He however is asserting that he is innocent and that the police should release him immediately." "What is your opinion in this case doctor?" "Tarun, I am a scientist, and I believe in hard facts. I have done an autopsy on this man, and have come forward with some amazing findings..." "Like what?" "The thing that caught my attention immediately was that his liver was enlarged. I took some liver cells from there and looked them under the microscope. I was surprised to find that Suman Dubey was suffering from a form of liver cancer, known as hepatoma. This finding set me thinking and I did certain other tests. I measured his blood glucose, and I found that it was much less than what it should have been. In technical terms, he was suffering from hypoglycemia, which in plain and simple words means "low sugar in the blood". I also found a chemical known as alpha fetoprotein in his plasma..." "Doctor, these symptoms don't appear like that of a poison to me. It rather appears to me that he died of liver cancer. Where is the criminality involved?" "Tarun, he indeed died of liver cancer. But the problem with me is that a serious allegation has been made by Dubey's parents against Ramnath." "That's right. And now you can tell the police that Ramnath is not guilty. And you can tell them that he died of liver cancer." "Tarun, you may be surprised to know that hepatoma can be induced by a poison, especially if low quantities of it are administered to someone over a long period of time" "Really? That is most preposterous. I wouldn't believe it, if it were not coming from your mouth. Well, anyway what is that poison?" "Tarun that is a very rare poison. It is called Aflatoxin" "Aflatoxin? Never heard of that." "Really. In fact, it is one of the most talked about poisons today. Some people believe that this poison is being used by certain nations in biological warfare." "Come on doctor. It looks like we are again on to some interesting tales about poisons. Tell me about aflatoxins from the beginning" "Tarun, our story of Aflatoxin starts at the most unusual place- the church..." "The church? Come on doctor. How can the story of a poison start from such a holy place as a church?" "In churches, a device if often used for sprinkling holy water. It is swollen at one end, and this swollen end has several tiny holes in it, through which holy water can be sprinkled. This little device is called aspergillum, after the Latin word for sprinkling, which is aspergo." "I still can't make any head or tail of how this will lead us to such a deadly poison as Aflatoxin." "It so happens that there is a particular species of fungus, which under the microscope looks exactly like the aspergillum. Its strands have a tiny end and a swollen end. To many mycologists - scientists who study fungi - this appeared rather like the aspergillum used in churches, so they named it Aspergillus. Since this fungus was yellow in color, and the Latin word for yellow is flavus, they preferred to call this fungus Aspergillus flavus, which became its botanical name. In 1960, an epidemic of serious liver disease was traced to the eating of moldy peanuts. Incidentally it was nothing but Aspergillus flavus, which had affected the peanuts. It was later realized that this fungus released a poison which actually caused the serious liver disease. The toxicologists were looking for a name for this newly discovered poison, and they resorted to the botanical name of the fungus from which the poison was coming. They took the first letter from the name of the genus (i.e. "A") and the first three letters from the name of the species (i.e. "fla"). Together the four letters form the word "Afla". Since toxin is another name for poisons, they added this world to "Afla", and the name of the new poison became Aflatoxin." "Oh, that is most interesting. Doctor, you are incredible. You make things so interesting." "Tarun, Aflatoxins are powerful, tasteless, odorless and colorless mycotoxins that are chemical metabolites produced not only by Aspergillus flavus, but by certain other species of Aspergillus as well such as Aspergillus parasiticus. It is also produced by certain other fungi such as Penicillum and Rhizopus. These are all soil based fungi. Several varieties of aflatoxins are known, but the most dangerous is Aflatoxin B1, with Aflatoxin G1, coming a close second. In fact, Aflatoxin B1 is thought to be the most potent liver cancer producing chemical. Aflatoxins are mutagenic (i.e. they cause mutations), carcinogenic (i.e. they produce cancers), teratogenic (i.e. they cause deformities in the fetus, if pregnant mothers take them), and acutely toxic to most animals and humans. They can cause animals, including humans, to lose their appetites, decrease their feed efficiency and/or cause death. Aflatoxins inhibit the body's immune system and reduce the effects of vaccines. In the U.S., the aflatoxins are the only mycotoxins that are specifically regulated by the Food and Drug Administration or FDA." "Oh, I see" "Human exposure to aflatoxins may occur accidentally by the consumption of foods that have been contaminated by Aspergillus during growth, harvest or storage. Nearly all agricultural products are potentially subject to contamination with aflatoxins. Common sources include grains (e.g., corn, rice, sorghum), peanuts, oilseeds (e.g., cottonseed oil, copra), legumes (soybeans, other beans), and tree nuts (e.g., almonds, pecans, walnuts). The use of Aflatoxin-contaminated feed for domestic animals may result in secondary exposure to humans by the consumption of products such as meat, milk and cheese, and eggs that contain residues of the aflatoxins or their toxic metabolites. The FDA has established enforcement levels of 0.5 part per billion (ppb) in milk and 20 parts per billion for other food products. This means that in the United States, concentrations of up to 20 ppb are permitted in human foods and only upto 0.5 ppb in the milk. Levels of up to 200 ppb are permitted in animal feeds, although there is now a serious concern for secondary exposure to aflatoxins from the use of animal products. As I told you, Aflatoxin B1 is a potent hepatocarcinogen in experimental animals, but tumors may also occur in the colon and kidneys. In rats, tumors develop after the administration of 0.2 micrograms per day or a single dose of 0.5 mg of Aflatoxin B1; the tumor incidence is 50 per cent at 26 months after the latter treatment. There are marked differences in the susceptibility of various species to carcinogenesis by Aflatoxin B1; rats are much more susceptible than mice." "Oh, that is interesting." "Tarun, very high levels of aflatoxins occur in foods in certain regions of Africa and Asia, and people in these regions suffer a high incidence of liver cancer. Within Swaziland, Kenya, Uganda, and Thailand, where epidemiological studies have been conducted, in certain areas the climatic conditions (i.e., high temperatures and high humidity) are favorable for fungal growth; the food supply from these regions shows a relatively high Aflatoxin contamination, and the average Aflatoxin consumption exceeds 10 micrograms per kg of body weight per day. In other areas of the same countries where lower temperatures and lower humidity prevail, the food supply shows a relatively lower Aflatoxin contamination and the average human Aflatoxin consumption is less. In these areas, the incidence of liver cancer is also less. This is a fairly good evidence that aflatoxins are connected with liver cancers. Within each country, there is a direct relationship between the incidence of liver tumors (cases/100,000 people/year) and the average daily dietary intake of aflatoxins in contaminated agricultural products." "That is interesting. You were saying that aflatoxins are also used by certain nations for biological warfare" "Tarun, first of all you must know, what biological warfare is. It is the use of living organisms or their products by a nation for killing the people of its enemy nation. The earliest instance of biological warfare is provided by ancient Mayans, who used to throw deadly snakes in their enemy camps. Now the biological warfare is much more advanced and complicated. People are thinking of using aerosols of deadly bacteria and viruses to decimate their enemies. These aerosols can be released in the enemy territories in the same way that traditional bombs are dropped. On 17.10.96, Alan George of the London Observer reported some interesting facts about Iraq's weaponizing of Aflatoxin. According to him, in May 1988 Iraq began studies on Aflatoxin at its Al Salman facility where the toxin was produced by the growth of the fungus Aspergillus in 5.3-quart flasks. In 1989 Iraq moved its Aflatoxin production to a facility at Fudaliyah. In November, 1989, trials using Aflatoxin warheads (in 122 mm artillery rockets and R400 aerial bombs) were conducted. In 1990 between spring and December 1990, it produced 481 gallons of Aflatoxin in solution. Between May 1990 and August 1990, trials using Aflatoxin warheads were continued. In December 1990 large scale "weaponization" of biological agents started. In 1991 Iraq's Gulf War arsenal included sixteen R400 Aflatoxin bombs and two Aflatoxin warheads for enhanced Scud missiles. In total Iraq produced 572 gallons of concentrated Aflatoxin, of which 410.8 gallons were put into munitions. There is however no evidence that these Aflatoxin weapons were ever used. But under these circumstances, United Nations has continued its sanctions over Iraq." "That is most interesting. Coming to our original case, do you think, Ramnath was intelligent enough to mix aflatoxins in the milk, to cause liver cancer in Suman Dubey so he may die?" "I don't think so. Although there is a distinct possibility of someone doing so, if he were intelligent enough. Ramnath is an illiterate person, and I don't think, he even knows about aflatoxins. I think the rice that he was getting from his village was moldy, and he got his poisoning from that. In fact, I have examined the rice stores in Dubey's house and they are indeed moldy. I examined some of the rice grains under the microscope and I could indeed find Aspergillus in it. So that solves our case. Come, let us tell the police that Ramnath is innocent and that they should release him." "Very clever indeed. This was a most interesting discussion doctor. Without your masterly deduction, police could have unnecessarily went on harassing Ramnath. Suman Dubey's relatives and other people might have thought, it was a case of killing by Ramnath. Tell me what are you going to tell me the next time?" "Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison, nitric acid. "