Exhumations are an important, but altogether less frequently used tool in forensic medicine, thought to be more often a procedure that only serves the purpose of clearing the air regarding cause of death in alleged unnatural deaths.
In this case report, we describe a series of five deaths involving children between the ages of 2–3 years, three of whom were exhumed and were linked to homicide by insecticidal poisoning. The motive being the suggestion of a tantric (alleged ‘godman’) that a childless woman might conceive if ten children between 2–5 years were sacrificed.
Ultimately, exhumation successfully linked the homicide by use of phorate (an organophosphorus insecticide) in two of the five deaths. Exhumation not only proved that the deaths were due to phorate poisoning, but also prevented further deaths of innocent victims by helping to catch the culprit.
Morphological and toxicological findings are also discussed with regard to organophosphorus poisoning in exhumation cases.
Exhumation, Homicidal poisoning, Human sacrifice, Phorate, Organophosphorus insecticide
