Exhumation- A key to supporting homicide victims' justice: Situation in Hyderabad District of Pakistan. A cross sectional study

Abstract

Aim: To learn more about the circumstances in the study area as well as the risk factors that obstruct justice in exhumed instances.

Study Design: Cross sectional study

Place and duration:

Method: There were 27 samples of exhumation. Only 13 of the 27 instances were positive (autopsy). Due to severe decomposition/putrefaction of the remains, autopsy results in the remaining 14 cases remained unclear.

Results: Throughout the research period, 27 exhumations (autopsies) were performed. There were 22 cases involving men and 5 cases involving women. On the basis of age, the cases were classified into four groups. Group 1 is 0–18 years old, Group 2 is 19–35 years old, Group 3 is 36–50 years old, and Group 4 is 51–70 years old. The maximum number of cases were 19 (70.37 %) in group-2, while the smallest is 1 in group-1 (3.70 percent). Only 13 of the 27 instances had a cause of death determined, and the bulk of these were firearm injuries (46.15 %), 3 drowning cases (23.08 %), 2 strangled case (15.38 %), and two blunt trauma case. The overall success rate maintained at 48.14%. On exhumation, there were 24 instances of primary autopsy (first time) and three cases of secondary autopsy (re-examination).

Conclusion: About half of the cases in our analysis had a cause of death that could be determined. In most cases gunshot injuries were the cause of death. The duration of exhumation and the cemetery soil impact the success percentage in challenge cases. There should be no needless delay in conducting exhumation if foul play is suspected. Total 90% of the data may be retrieved if exhumation is done within days following burial.