An Autopsy Study of Paediatric Fatalities in Central Kolkata, India

Childhood deaths are a curse to the society. Every effort should be made to prevent such deaths. During the period 2008 to 2010, 230 autopsies were conducted on subjects up to the age of 18 years at the Kolkata Police Morgue. Majority (52.2%) of them were between 13–18 years and males marginally exceeded the females. Un natural deaths accounted for 80.8% of the fatalities and burn was the leading cause of death followed by road traffic accidents and drowning. The residence of the victims (38.3%) was the commonest place of incidence and most of the events occurred during day time. Increase in the general awareness, level of education and counseling of the parents and children need to be done to prevent such un intentional deaths