War with Wicked Wounds- Rightful interpretation of intricate injuries and meticulous autopsy preventing both wrongful convictions and miscarriage of justice

Differentiating between antemortem and postmortem injuries is of paramount importance for medical and legal reasons. Wrong interpretation of injuries and subsequently the wrong cause of death would lead to a miscarriage of justice. Ideally in a fresh intact body the position and gross findings may indicate the cause and time of injury. Decomposition and dismemberment of a body will make difficult for subsequent identification. However, careful examination at autopsy helps in knowing the injury (antemortem or post-mortem) even in a decomposed or dismembered body. Here we report a case of a decomposed and dismembered body, where a diligent autopsy examination helped in correctly ascertaining the nature of injuries, the manner of death and thus aiding in apt execution of justice.