Bone fragments tell a tale

Forensic anthropology being a speciality for analysing skeletal remains plays a very important part in solving crimes where, the only evidence is bones. Bones, for a forensic scientist is a piece of puzzle when put together meticulously, can reveal a whole story as we will be discussing here with a case report. Some skeletal remains were found in a forest near Delhi at two different places. It was brought to our mortuary at AIIMS, New Delhi for examination. Examination of the bones revealed that those belonged to one and same individual as well as had several fractures over the skull bones. All fractures showed haemorrhages at the edges suggestive of ante-mortem nature. The remains were presumed to be that of a young male between 17 to 20 years with a height of 174 cm. It was estimated that the bony remains were about 3 weeks old and the person died due to several blunt force injuries to the head. Police enquiries revealed that the deceased was a 19 year-old male who had gone missing and had been murdered by his friends who hit him with a big stone.