A girl was found dead in her appartment,hung by a rope in sitting position.Her neighbours told that she had a fight with her boyfriend and her family members were in no position to believe that it was a suicide,rather,accused her boyfriend of murder.
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Hello! My fellow steemians.Today I am going to present case scenario on hanging and try to clear general misconcepts regarding Hanging.
As discussed in above case of a dead girl who was found hanging in seated position.
Wait!Is this possible? Has the girl committed sucide or she has been murdered initially and then hung by a rope creating a scenario of suicide?? This might be a obvious doubt in everyone's mind. I'm afraid but,YES!! This seems to be a case of suicidal partial hanging and it is very difficult task to enforce law at suicide scenes where people are in strong belief that the only way to hang yourself is 30 feets above the air!! As I have told the above case to be suicidal hanging,so i would like to share something about HANGING which will clear your doubt regarding above case or similar other cases!
HANGING - A brief overview
HANGING is a form of asphyxial death caused by suspension of a body by any ligature material (rope,belt, chain,fabrics) and the constricting force being total or partial body weight.The first line on hanging clearly signifies that there neednot be whole body weight for a body to be called hanging,rather,only a small part of the body,even head, is sufficient enough to cause enough constriction to cause death.Hanging may be
1.Suicidal
2.Homicidal
3.Accidental
Depending on degree of suspension,hanging can be:
- Complete hanging
- Partial hanging
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If a body is completely suspended without any part of the body touching the ground and the constricting force is whole weight of the body,it is known as Complete Hanging. Whereas,if the body is partially suspended or is in sitting,kneeling,lying down or with only head and chest off the ground,it is known as Partial Hanging.
Is body weight sufficient enough to cause death??If so,what are the possible causes of death?
Constriction of trachea by a tension of 15 kg on ligature causes compressive narrowing of airway by forcing up root of tongue against posterior wall of pharynx and folding epiglottis over entrance of larynx.
Jugular venous congestion by a tension of 2 kg on ligature causing rapid rise of venous pressure in head and unconsciousness.
Carotid artery occlusion by a tension of 5 kg on ligature(weight of head) produces cerebral coma and then immediate coma.
Reflex vagal inhibition due to pressure on carotid bodies causing cardiac arrest.
Fracture or dislocation of cervical vertebrae causing spinal cord compression.
The usual period of death following hanging is 3 to 5 minutes.
Usual findings at the scene of death and on the body of dead externally
Initially,degree of suspension,ligature material used,type of knot,direction of knot,posture of the body,signs of struggle are seen.
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Ligature mark is the most important and specific sign of death from hanging as seen on dead body. Ligature Mark seen on dead body's neck is usually above thyroid prominence/hyoid bone.It is inverted V-shped towards th e side of knot.The skin at the site of ligature is depressed and pale in colour.Neck is flexed to the side opposite to the knot.
Other External findings are
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Head inclined to opposite side of knot.
Swollen and cyanosed face with prominent eye balls.
Tongue is turgid due to congestion and protruded due to pressure at base by ligature.
Frothy mucus in mouth.
Saliva dribbiling from corner of mouth opposite to side of knot due to stimulation of salivary gland.
Relaxation of sphincter causing involuntary discharge of faeces,urine,semen
la facie sympathetique seen in eyes which means if knot pressure is on cervical sympathetic chain,eye of same side may remain open and pupil is dilated.
Tardieu's(hemorrhagic) spots are seen on forehead,eyelid,conjunctiva.
Cyanosis of finger nails
Glove and stocking Post Mortem staining
Hands clenched
Internal findings seen on dead body on Post Mortem Table
Along with the external findings seen on dead body, internal findings seen when the dead body is opened is equally important for defining death of a person due to hanging.Findings found are as per
Hemorrhage and rupture of subcutaneous tissue and strap muscles underneath ligature mark.
Congested larynx and trachea
Transverse carotid artery intimal layer tears if the knot is placed posteriorly (Amussat's Sign)
Vertebral arteries injury
Hyoid bone fracture( in person above 40 years of age)
Lungs and brain are congested,multiple Tardieu's spots seen in lungs,brain,viscera
By these findings,seen on scene of crime as well as inside body of dead,one is most likely able to define death due to hanging .Now to differentiate whether death is due to hanging or hanging is done after death,the following features could be of great importance.
Antemortem Hanging versus Post Mortem Hanging
Antemortem
Salivary dribbling source
Sign of struggle is present
Knot of ligature is single and simple
Ligature mark is oblique,noncontinuous,above thyroid.
Protrusion of tongue
Cyanosis of face,lips and ears
Face bloated,veins prominent and eyes protruded
Dribbling of saliva from angle of mouth
Intima of carotid artery is ruptured
Involuntary discharge of faeces,urine
Postmortem
Sign of struggle and voilence absent
Knot is multiple reef type
Ligature mark is circular,continuous,below thyroid
No protrusion of tongue
Cyanosis of face,lips,ears absent
Engorment of veins of face and neck is absent
Dribbling of saliva is absent
No change in intima of carotid artery
Involuntary discharge of faeces and urine is absent
Considering these findings,one is able to suspect nature of crime,i.e; either the death is following suicidal hanging or the victim was murdered and the assilant set up a crime scene mimicking hanging.
based on these features,one can set up one's mind towards suicidal hanging in above case which was put forward at the very beginning of this discussion.
Some other forms of hanging
LYNCHING
It is form of homicidal hanging where a suspect or accused or an enemy is overpowered by a person,acting jointly and illegally and hung him/her by means of a rope from tree.The nam ei s derived from captain William Lynch,who used to order hanging to negroes publicly without trial in USA.
JUDICIAL HANGING
IN this form of hanging,criminal is hanged to death as a part of capital punishment.Here.acuused is cavered with dark mask on face and then,ligature is looped around neck with knot under angle of jaw.Accused is made to stand on a platform with trapdoors and when trapdoors open,patient hang with violent jerk of head.This causes fracture dislocation of second and third cervical vertebrae at the level of bilateral pedicle and thereby compression of spinal cord.
That's all for today.Hope this post gave you some idea on distinguishing a suicidal case or a murder case based on some external features.THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!! If you have any querries or doubts regarding this topic,feel free to write comments below.All sorts of compliments are highly appreciable.
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References:
1.http://www.forensicmed.co.uk/
2.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19306616
3.http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/asphyxia/hanging
4.The Essentials of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology by Dr.K.S.Narayan Reddy