A Medicolegal Study of Unnatural Female Deaths-A Retrospective Study

Discrimination against women in our society is deeply embedded within the family context of the women. The women are often subjected to violence from their husbands and from relatives in their natal as well as marital homes. Even in present era of women liberalization, empowerment and education, there is increase in crimes against women, which is a matter of great social concern. The present study was undertaken in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi, to determine the nature of death in unnatural female deaths brought for autopsy during the period of January 2016 to December 2016. Out of 1262 postmortem done in the year 2016, 311cases (24.64%) belonged to female sex with majority deaths in age group between 21–30 years, 98 cases (31.51%) and the most common cause of death was burns 116 cases (37.29%). The most common manner of death was suicidal, 194 cases (62.37%) followed by accidental deaths in 86 cases(27.65%).