Study of Accused of Sexual Assault in Relation to its Socio-demographic Profile and its Clinical Findings

The present study is a prospective study of examination of 109 cases of accused of sexual assault coming at Department of Forensic Medicine and toxicology, Indira Gandhi Medical College Nagpur. Period from October 2014 to September 2015. It was aimed to study the socio-demographic profile of accused of sexual assault, analysis of its findings in clinical examination and its co-relation with the history as stated by accused with the reports of investigating police officer. 55% accused were between age group of 21–30 yrs. 67% of the accused were unmarried single, 32% were married. 78% accused were residing in urban and semi-urban areas and 22% from rural area.

Out of the 62 accused who gave history of sexual relationship with victim, 48 accused 77.41% of them stated that it was consensual and the victim was known to them. 5.5% of the accused was examined within 24 hours of incidence, 15.59% were examined between 1–2 days of incidence. 78.89% of the accused were examined after 48 hours, leading to loss of important clinical evidence of recent sexual intercourse. Genital injury was found in one accused, while 7.34% accused had minor injuries over significant part of body, which can mostly be related with the incidence of sexual assault.

Smegma was present in 22 accused (20.18%) of the accused, out of which 6 accused was examined within 24 hours of sexual incidence and these accused had history of not taken bath. Presence of smegma in accused examined within 24 hours of alleged sexual assault, is a finding which may be considered as favorable for defense of such accused. Absence of smegma in accused of sexual assault is not necessarily a conclusive proof of the fact that recent intercourse having been committed.