An Autopsy Evaluation of Defense Wounds in Homicidal Deaths

Evidence of defense wound indicates that the victim was awake and has resisted the offence. Absence of defense wound does not rule out homicide. On the contrary, absence of defense wounds in majority of cases clearly indicated that the victim was present in a place where he never anticipated risk to his life and was caused by a person who had an easy access to the place of crime, or the victim was asleep, unaware, unprepared or under the influence of alcohol/drugs. The present study was based on retrospective analysis of 218 homicidal deaths in three years period from January 2004 to December 2006 from autopsies done in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal and Medico legal Institute, Home (Police) department, Government of Madhya Pradesh. Among total 218 cases included in this study, defense wound was evident in 73 cases i.e. 32.48%, of which 60.3% were on hand and 13.7% were on forearm and 26% were on both forearm and hand region. Defence wound was more common on left side (45.2%) than right (17.8%), because these are nearest to the perpetrator and consistent with the preponderance of right handed individuals in the population. In 37% cases it was present on both sides. The pattern of defense wound is discussed in detail in this paper.