Psychological Autopsy- Unraveling the Mystery of Death

Hanging is one of the 10 leading causes of death in the world accounting more than a million deaths annually. Differentiation between homicide and suicide may be a difficult task without a through death investigation. One tool often employed in the investigation of an equivocal death is called a psychological autopsy combined with crime scene investigation, postmortem examination and ancillary investigations. In Psychological autopsy a series of questions in an interview format, collateral information is gathered from people who knew the deceased. Here we present a rare case of a 29 years old medical graduate who was found in a hotel room hanging from the metallic hook with multiple ligature turns around his neck. Initially the investigating officer established a doubt of homicide by seeing the number of loops around his neck. It is only after postmortem examination and the psychological autopsy of the deceased relatives, the manner was finally concluded as suicidal in nature.