1Forensic Unit, Department of Pathology, Medical Faculty, UKM, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
2Department of Forensic Medicine, Alor Star Hospital, 05100, Alor Star, Kedah.
A three and half year old child died after severe difficulty in breathing. Postmortem examination revealed, multiple old and new bite marks on the abdomen, right and left shoulder, upper arm, left and right calf and behind the right ear. Multiple “tramline bruises” were also detected on the body and limbs. Subdural haematoma was present on the left cerebral hemisphere. Brochopneumonia was detected on both right and left upper lobes. The cause of death was given as “subdural haematoma and bronchopneumonia” associated with non-accidental injury. A case of child abuse was suspected. The parents revealed that a Chinese medium had beaten and bite their child to chase away the evil spiritsjrom their child's body. Metric analysis of the bite marks suggests an adult biter and could not exclude the medium as the perpetrator. When confronted with these findings the medium admitted to the allegations and later pleaded guilty to causing death not amounting to murder.
Child abuse, bite mark identification, metric analysis, forensic odontology
