FM2.{13-16,20-28},FM14.6 | Autopsy & Crime Scene Investigation — Glossary

A forensic entomology method for post-mortem interval estimation based on the developmental stage of insects and the ambient temperature, expressed as cumulative temperature units above a threshold.

A preservation state where body fat undergoes saponification (conversion to a grey-white, waxy substance with a rancid odour) in warm, moist, anaerobic conditions; can preserve body contours and forensic evidence for years.

Systematic post-mortem examination of a dead body to determine cause, manner, and mechanism of death and document all pathological findings.

The forensic anthropological assessment of skeletal remains providing sex, age, stature, and ancestry estimates to establish identity.

The characteristic flexed posture of arms in badly burnt bodies, caused by differential heat-induced contraction of flexor muscle groups; not an indicator of ante-mortem activity.

Scattered, disarticulated skeletal remains requiring systematic inventory, minimum number of individuals determination, and biological profile estimation.

Bone exposed to temperatures above 700°C, resulting in grey-white, chalk-like, fragile remnants; still potentially useful for sex estimation from shape and dental examination.

The disease or injury that initiated the fatal sequence of events, stated as immediate, antecedent, and underlying causes in the death certificate.

The documented, unbroken sequence of possession and handling of physical evidence from collection to court, ensuring its admissibility.

A hospital-based post-mortem examination performed with family consent to clarify diagnosis, audit clinical care, or contribute to education.

Legal principle that the state is accountable for harm resulting from failure to provide necessary medical care to persons in its custody, even in the absence of direct assault.

The current Indian legislation (replacing the 1986 Act) under which patients or families can file consumer complaints against healthcare providers for medical negligence; relevant to anaesthetic and operative deaths.

Attendance by the forensic physician at the scene of a suspicious or unnatural death to confirm death, estimate PMI, provide preliminary injury description, assist scene reconstruction, and advise on biological evidence preservation — as a scientific advisor, not as a primary investigator.

Provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure empowering police to hold an inquest and order a PM in cases of unnatural, sudden, or suspicious deaths.

Provision mandating a magistrate inquest (with higher legal weight) for custodial deaths, deaths of married women within seven years of marriage, and other specified categories.

Death of a person while in the legal custody of the state — police lock-up, jail, remand home, or government psychiatric institution — which mandates a magistrate inquest under CRPC Section 176 and NHRC notification.

Indian legislation establishing the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and state/district disaster management frameworks that provide the statutory structure for mass disaster response including DVI.

The systematic removal and examination of organs from the thoracic, abdominal, and cranial cavities during autopsy.

The disinterment of a previously buried body for forensic examination, requiring a magistrate's court order; the body must be reburied after examination.

A form of torture involving systematic beating of the soles of the feet; leaves injuries in a location less visible to casual inspection and is specifically examined for in NHRC-protocol custodial death autopsies.

The ability to exchange information verbally and non-verbally with peers, family members, law enforcement, and the judiciary in medicolegal contexts — involving precision with peers, structured clarity with law enforcement, evidence-bounded testimony for courts, and compassionate accuracy with families.

The medicolegal document that accompanies preserved viscera to the Forensic Science Laboratory, listing all specimens, chain of custody, case details, and specific analyses requested.

Government-run laboratory that conducts chemical, toxicological, serological, and other scientific analyses on specimens submitted from medico-legal autopsy cases.

A dental age estimation method using six criteria (attrition, periodontosis, secondary dentine, cementum apposition, root resorption, root translucency) scored 0–3 each; total score up to 18 is converted to age via regression equation.

A formal inquiry into the cause and circumstances of an unnatural death, conducted by police (CRPC 174) or magistrate (CRPC 176).

Tissue defects created by blowfly larvae and other insects at natural body orifices post-mortem; can mimic lacerations or excoriations and are distinguished by their location, progressive pattern, and decomposition context.

The internationally standardised four-phase Disaster Victim Identification process: Phase 1 Scene, Phase 2 Post-mortem, Phase 3 Ante-mortem, Phase 4 Reconciliation — designed to systematically identify victims of mass casualty events.

Indian Penal Code provision for causing death by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide — the primary applicable provision in medical negligence deaths.

Dowry death — death of a woman within seven years of marriage under circumstances suggesting dowry harassment; carries a minimum 7-year sentence.

Cruelty by husband or his relatives towards a married woman; includes both physical cruelty and harassment related to dowry demands.

Gravitational pooling of blood in dependent blood vessels post-mortem; fixation occurs at approximately 8–12 hours, after which movement of the body does not redistribute the hypostasis.

Gravitational pooling of blood in dependent blood vessels post-mortem; used to assess body position and whether the body was moved after death.

A scene finding where fixed lividity distribution is inconsistent with the body's current position — indicates the body was moved after livor mortis fixation (approximately 8–12 hours after death), a critical indicator of post-mortem scene manipulation.

The available community, institutional, and improvised resources that a forensic physician uses in mass disaster response when standard DVI equipment is unavailable — including local dental practitioners, community interpreters, public biometric records, and improvised preservation equipment.

The legal classification of how death came about: natural, accidental, homicidal, suicidal, or undetermined.

The physiological derangement (e.g. haemorrhagic shock, cardiac tamponade) through which the cause of death produced the fatal outcome.

A post-mortem examination conducted under statutory authority (CRPC Section 174 or 176) without requiring family consent, for medicolegal and forensic purposes.

The United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions; provides international standards for autopsy in suspected human rights violation cases.

Preservation of a body by desiccation in hot, dry conditions; preserves skin and skeletal structures but not fluid-containing tissues.

India's statutory human rights body established under the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993; issues guidelines on custodial deaths, receives mandatory notifications, and recommends compensation or prosecution.

Specific operational guidelines issued by the NHRC for the investigation of deaths in custody, mandating magistrate inquest, video recording, team autopsy, report direct to magistrate, and NHRC notification within 24 hours.

A second (or subsequent) post-mortem examination ordered by a magistrate when the first examination was inconclusive or its findings are legally contested.

Asphyxia caused by a body position that compromises breathing — particularly prone restraint — a recognised mechanism of custodial death that must be documented by examining the lungs, petechiae, and circumstances of death.

A change in the body occurring after death — due to resuscitation, handling, insects, or decomposition — that can mimic ante-mortem injuries and must be explicitly identified and distinguished in the PM report.

The estimated time elapsed between death and examination, inferred from post-mortem changes, stomach contents, and other time-dependent findings.

A biometric or scientific identifier (fingerprints, DNA profile, dental comparison) that is individually sufficient to establish a positive identification without requiring corroboration.

A PM report opinion issued before FSL results are available; must be explicitly marked 'provisional pending toxicological/histological analysis.'

Injuries created during CPR or emergency medical care (e.g. anterior rib fractures, sternal fractures, laryngeal bruising) that are post-mortem in medicolegal context and must not be misattributed to assault.

Post-mortem stiffening of muscles due to ATP depletion and actin-myosin cross-linking; onset 1–2 h, fully established 6–12 h, resolves 24–36 h at 25–30°C.

The collaborative inference of the sequence of events at a crime or death scene, drawn from body position, post-mortem changes, injury patterns, blood distribution, and scene context.

The forensic physician's written record of findings and observations from the crime scene visit, submitted to the investigating officer and potentially admissible as evidence in court proceedings.

An identifying feature (physical description, clothing, jewellery, personal effects) that supports but does not alone confirm identification; must be corroborated by other findings.

The recommended preservative for blood samples collected at autopsy for toxicological analysis; acts as anticoagulant and metabolic inhibitor to prevent post-collection fermentation.

The angle formed by the two pubic rami below the pubic symphysis; typically >90° in females (giving a wider birth canal) and <90° in males — the primary indicator for sex determination from the pelvis.

A forensic examination conducted by a minimum of two doctors (forensic physician + relevant specialist) as mandated by FM2.26 and NHRC guidelines for high-accountability medicolegal cases.

A non-invasive, imaging-based post-mortem examination using CT and/or MRI to produce three-dimensional reconstructions of internal structures without surgical dissection.

Collection and storage of specific organs and body fluids (stomach, intestine, liver, kidney, blood, urine) in sealed containers without formalin, for dispatch to the Forensic Science Laboratory for chemical/toxicological analysis.

Any tissue response that occurs only in living tissue (e.g. inflammation, soot aspiration, carbon monoxide uptake) — used to determine whether an injury or environmental exposure was ante-mortem.