LIGATURE MARK IN HANGING ? GROSS AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION WITH EVALUATION AND REVIEW

Background: Hanging is one of the most common methods of approach in case of suicidal deaths in India. Virtually all hangings are suicides until otherwise it is proved contrary. The ligature mark plays a major role in deriving the important findings to lead investigation. The correlation of external, internal findings help to establishing the crucial facts in cases of hanging. Aims & Objectives: To study various patterns of ligature mark. To differentiate cases of antemortem hanging with postmortem. Materials & Methods: A study carried out in Departments of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, S.V. Medical College, Tirupati from January 2010 to December 2013 with 83 cases of asphyxial deaths due to hanging. A thorough external and internal examination of ligature mark was performed in all the cases. Results: A total of 83 cases were notified. Majority, 37(44.5%) of cases belong to 3rd decade (21 - 30 yrs). Males are common victims ? 52(62.6%). Complete hanging was commonest type ? 76(91.56%). Chunni was the commonest material ? 25(31.12%). Single ligature mark was common ? 80(96.3%). Gross examination revealed soft tissue changes in 23(27.71%) cases. Microscopic examination - breaking, wrinkling and compression of skin along with micro hemorrhages and inflammatory changes in subcutaneous tissues were notified. Conclusion: The examination of corpse in cases of hanging is made easy by correlating current observation with the following finding. The correlation of external, internal and microscopic findings leads to easy formulation of final opinion these cases. It also, to some extent helps to delineate antemortem cases of hanging with postmortem cases.