1Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical & Health Science, Dehradun
2Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Govt. Doon Medical College, Dehradun
3Post Graduate Student, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical & Health Science, Dehradun
4Post Graduate Student, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical & Health Science, Dehradun
* Mail Id: niraj171@outlook.com
Background: Lip prints are the normal lines and fissures in the form of wrinkles and grooves present in the zone of transition of human lip, between the inner labial mucosa and outer skin. Yasuo Tsuchihashi presented a standardized classification of his own, for different types of lip print. He has classified lip prints into five types, which forms the basis of categorizing lip prints. Personal identification plays an inevitable role in forensic investigation. Lip print is one of the evidences that can be left in the crime scene, which helps in identification purpose.
Aim: Present study was undertaken to provide deeper inside view of use of cheiloscopy in personal identification, focusing on sex variability of lip print patterns. This study was conducted to identify the pattern of lip prints and whether any sexual difference exists in lip prints in north India.
Materials And Methods: Among the medical students studying in SGRR medical college, Dehradun who were native of north India were selected for the study. The cross-sectional study was conducted among 119 (65 males and 54 females) subjects of age 20–28 years, residing in different areas of north India. Frequency distribution and Chi-square test were used for data analysis by SPSS software. Applying the Chi-Square test, statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) were observed between male and female lip print patterns in middle 10 mm of the lower lip.
Results: The most common lip print pattern in entire population was Type I (38%). Significant difference was found in the distribution of lip print patterns among males and females in the entire population, group I and group II, respectively (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: This study shows that there is significant relationship in the pattern of lip print with sex which can serve as an important tool in forensic for personal identification and criminal investigation, thus, narrowing down the scope of investigation to almost half.
Lip Print Pattern, Forensic Identification, Personal Identification, Cheiloscopy, Sex differences
