Study of Sex from Human Sternum in Cases of Medico-legal Autopsies (Between the Age Group of 10 and 50 Years)

Abstract

Determination of sex is immensely important not only for identification but also for age and stature determination as sex has got direct bearings on both of these parameters. Whenever it is possible to tell sex of skeletal remains, identification has been narrowed down by half, as missing person of only one sex needs to be considered. In this sense the identification of sex takes precedence over age. The present work was carried out in the Mortuary of Forensic Medicine Department of Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati. The work has particularly been conducted on cadavers sent to the department for medico-legal postmortem examination. Attention has been also paid to avoid influence on the subject’s growth due to their varied nutritional status, so subjects were selected more or less of similar socio-economic status.  In this study, Subjects aged above 10 years and below 50 years were only included. All the bones in the present study were between 10 and 50 years of age. The uniformity and racial origin of the present work have been maintained by carrying out the study on cadavers of Assamese Hindu people of Assam with more or less similar nutritional habits and socio-economic status. All abnormal and broken bones were rejected at the first instance.

Keywords: Human Sternum, Medico-legal postmortem examination, Sex

Cite this Article

Dipak Kumar Das, Study of Sex from Human Sternum in cases of Medico-legal Autopsies, Research and Reviews: Journal of Surgery, 2015; 4(2): 20–26p.