Diagnosing Death with Diatoms: A Retrospective Study of Forensic Cases in Himachal Pradesh, India
International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Forensic Medicine,
Vol. 7 No. 2(Spring) (2017),
25 June 2017
,
Page 124-137
https://doi.org/10.22037/ijmtfm.v7i2(Spring).16373
Abstract
Background: Diatoms found inside the body of a drowned victim may serve as corroborative evidence in the diagnosis of cause of death. Diatom has proved to be the only golden standard for diagnosis and confirmation of drowning deaths whether the drowning was ante-mortem or post-mortem.
Methods: The study was based on the cases of death due to drowning received from three districts of Northern Range of Himachal Pradesh, India during the period of five years from Ist January, 2010 to 31st December, 2015 for diatom test. A total of 66 human cases were examined for detection of diatoms. The detailed information regarding cause of death, socio-demographic factors and other associated information was gathered. The acid digestion method accepted worldwide for diatom extraction was used.
Results: Male victims predominated (75.75%). Most common affected age group was 21-40 years (53.02%). The youngest victim was a girl of 4 years age who drowned accidentally in a water tank, while the oldest victim being a 86 years old who fell accidently in a river. Married victims contributed to 33 (50.0%) and unmarried to 21 (31.81%). 13 (19.69%) drowning cases belonged to students followed by labourers (18.18%) and housewives (15.15%). The highest reported cases of drowning were from the rural areas (65.15%) followed by urban areas (16.66%). Majority (81.81%) of the victims drowned in fresh water. The incidences of drowning were more in water of natural flowing streams (khuds) (31.81%) followed by rivers (22.72%), nullahs/rivulets (12.12%), wells (9.09%), kuhls/water channels (7.57%), canals (6.06%), ponds (3.03%), water tanks (3.03%) and check dam, dam and waterfall in one each (4.54%) respectively. Accidental drowning was the most common cause of death (37.87%). Highest (51.51%) percentage of drowning cases was noticed during the months of monsoon/rainy season. Blood on mouth and nostrils was present in 14 (21.21%), froth from mouth, nose, larynx and trachea in 35 (53.03%) cases. Diatom-test was found positive in 62 (93.93%) cases. The results of the study revealed the occurrence of various varieties of diatoms in water bodies of northern region of Himachal Pradesh. The most common diatom genera detected were Navicula (86.36%).
Conclusion: The study concluded that diatoms are amongst the important biological forensic evidences in diagnosing the cause and place of death due to drowning. Gender based examination revealed higher percentage of males involved in drowning fatalities and the accidental submersion was the commonest manner of death.
- Drowning
- Death
- Bone Marrow
- Diatom Test
- Diatoms
How to Cite
References
Gunatilake PGL, Gooneratne I. Drowning associated diatoms in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Journal of Forensic Medicine, Science and Law. 2011;23-4.
Auer A. Qualitative diatom analysis as a tool to diagnose drowning. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1991;12:213-18.
Pollanen MS. The diagnostic value of the diatom test for drowning, II. Validity: analysis of diatoms in bone marrow and drowning medium. J Forensic Sci. 1997;42:286-90.
Hoffmann E. Lehrbuch der Gerichtlichen Medicin (Textbook of Legal Medicine). 1878;629.
Revenstorf V. Der Nachwies der aspirierten Ertrankungs flussigkeit als Kriterium des Todes, Geritchtl Med. 1904;28:274-79.
Pollanen MS. Forensic diatomology and drowning. Elsevier. 1998.
Incze G. Fremdkörper in Blutkreislauf Ertrunkener. Zentralbl Allg Pathol Anat. 1942;176.
Tamasaka L. Vizihullak Csontvelojneck Diatomattartalmarol (Diatom content of bone marrow in corpses in water). Orv Hetil. 1949;16:509-11.
Timperman J. The diagnosis of drowning - a review. Journal of Forensic Science. 1972;397-409.
Peabody AJ. Diatoms in Forensic Science. J Forensic Sci Soc. 1977;17:81-7.
Ludes B, Quantin S, Coste M, Mangin P. Application of simple enzymatic digestion methods for diatom detection in the diagnosis of drowning in putrefied corpses by diatom analysis. Int J Leg Med. 1994;107:37-41.
World Health Organization. Drowning. Fact sheet reviewed. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs347/en/. Accessed: Oct, 5, 2016.
Srivastava AK, Tripathi CB, Dasgupta SM, Gupta RK. A study of fatal drowning cases in Varansi. Indian J Forensic Sci. 1987;1:127-31.
Shetty M. Profile of drowning deaths in Mangalore, a coastal city of Karnatka. Medico- Legal Update. 2005;5:39-42.
Kanchan T, Monteiro FNP. Injury Prevention. 2012;18:132.
Thakar MK, Sahota S, Singh R. Deaths due to drowning in Punjab-a survey (2005-2006). Medico-Legal Update. 2009;9:18-22.
National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi. 2014.
Drowning death rate by country-world life expectancy. Available at: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com /cause-of-death/drownings/by-country/. Accessed: Oct, 5, 2016.
Ahluwalia MS. Social, cultural and economic history of Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company; 1998.
Warneke CL, Cooper SP. Child and adolescent drowning in Harris County, Texas, 1983 through 1990. American Journal of Public Health. 1994;84:593-98.
Beas river tragedy. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Beas_River_Tragedy. Accessed: Oct, 5, 2016.
Peabody AJ. Diatoms in forensic science. J Forensic Sci Soc. 1978;17:81-7.
Hürlimann J, Feer P, Elber F, Niederberger K, Dirnhofer R. Diatom detection in the diagnosis of death by drowning. Int J Legal Med. 2000;114:6-14.
Timperman J. Medico-legal problems in death by drowning. J Forensic Med. 1969;16:45-75.
Modi JP. Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence & Toxicology, 21st ed. N.M. Tripathi Private Ltd. 1996;188-220.
Majumdar BC. Study of violent asphyxial deaths. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. 2002;24:8-10.
Chaudhury P. Profile of Medico-legal cases in Kasturba hospital of MGIMS, Sewagram. A thesis submitted in Nagpur University 2001- 2002.
Pandey S. A study of violent asphyxial death in the department of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences. A thesis submitted in Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. 1999–2003.
Brenner RA, Smith GS. Divergent trends in childhood drowning rates. J Am Med Assoc. 1994;271:1606-8.
Pathak A, Mangal HM. Decomposition: Cast a shadow over the drowning deaths. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. 2009;31:112-7.
Saini E, Kadian A, Singh R. A prototypical study of drowning related fatalities in Haryana. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences. 2016;7:2400-7.
Rao Ranga GSRKG, Surendar J, Prasad GKV. A comprehensive study of drowning in and around Kakinada, two years retrospective study. Sch J App Med Sci. 2014;2:1397-401.
Tan RMK. The epidemiology and prevention of drowning in Singapore. Singapore Med J. 2004;45:324-8.
Wirthwein DP, Bernard JJ, Prahlow JA. Suicide by drowning: A 20 year review. J Forensic Sci. 2002;47:131-6.
Palimar V, Manjunath S. Drowning deaths in Manipal. International Journal of Medical Toxicology & Legal Medicine. 2010;12:41-3.
Mukherjee AA, Dhawane SG, Dhoble SV. Medicolegal study of drowning deaths. Journal of Research in Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. 2016;2:1-4.
Sayed ZAT, Farhat HM, Hamid AP. Medico legal investigation of violent asphyxial deaths–an autopsy based study. Journal of the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi. 2012;6:86-90.
Chormunge V, Prashant B, Ajay S. Violent asphyxial deaths in rural area of Maharashtra. Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. 2009;2:161-4.
Singh A, Goria RK. A study of demographic variables of violent asphyxial death. JPAFMAT. 2203;3:22-5.
Salachin S. An analysis of the medico legal autopsies performed in Adana, Turkey, in 1983- 1988. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. 1991;12:191-3.
Gross VA, Weiss MG, Ring M, Hepp U, Bopp M, Gutzwiller F, et al. Methods of suicide: international suicide patterns derived from WHO mortality database. Bull World Health Organ. 2008;86:726-32.
Momamchand A. Violent asphyxial deaths in Imphal, Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology. 1998;15:60-4.
Reddy SP, Kumar R, Rudramurthy. Asphyxial deaths at district hospital, Tumkur: a retrospective study. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. 2012;34:146-7.
Thakar MK, Guleria P. Tracking drowning trends in Himachal Pradesh during 2006-2010. Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (serial online). 2015;16:1.
Morris NK, Du Toit-Prinsloo L, Saayman G. Drowning in Pretoria, South Africa: A 10-year review. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 2016;37:66-70.
Chidanand C, Satish KV. Study of incidence of middle ear haemorrhage in drowning. J of Evidence Based Med & Hlthcare. 2015;2:621-8.
Sheikhazadi A, Ghadyani MH. Epidemiology of drowning in Isfahan province, centre of Iran. J Res Med Sci. 2009;14:79–87.
Chakraborty P, Singh PK, Chatterjee A, Bhattacharya P, Das S. Histological changes in lungs and spleen in cases of drowning with demographic variability. European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2015;2:479-85.
Buri S, Saini OP, Garg R, Purohit RN, Soni K. Detection of diatoms in autopsy of normal population vis-à-vis drowning. International Journal of Sciences & Applied Research. 2015;2:22-8.
Hedberg K, Gunderson PD, Vargas C, Osterholm MT, Mac Donald KL. Drownings in Minnesota, 1980-85: a population-based study. Am J Public Health. 1990;80:1071-4.
Davis S, Smith LS. The epidemiology of drowning in Cape Town--1980-1983. S Afr Med J. 1985;68:739-42.
Pearn J. Pathophysiology of drowning. Med J Aust. 1985;142:586-8.
Shetty BSK, Shetty M. Epidemiology of drowning in Mangalore, A coastal taluk of south India. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 2007;14:410-5.
Anand TP, Unmesh AK. Diatom test: a reliable tool to assess death by drowning. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences. 2016;4:1479-84.
Vinayak V. Significance of forensic diatomology. Science and Technology Reporter. 2010;2:3.
Kumar A, Manoj M, Kadian A. Role of diatom test in forensic science for examination of drowning cases. Report and Opinion. 2011;3:1-5.
Patetta MJ, Biddinger PW. Characteristics of drowning deaths in North Carolina. Public Health Rep. 1988;103:406-11.
Wintemute GJ, Kraus J, Teret SP, Wright MA. The epidemiology of drowning in adulthood: implications for prevention. Am J Prevent Medicine. 1988;4:343-8.
Giersten JC, Tedeschi CG, Eckert W, Tedeschi LG. Forensic Medicine, Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. 1977;1317-22.
Copeland AR. Suicide by drowning. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1987;8:18-22.
Mason JK. The Pathology of Trauma. 2nd ed. Edward Arnold. 1993;204-26.
Singh B, Ganeson D, Chattopadyay PK. Pattern of suicides in Delhi- a survey of cases reported at police morgue, Delhi. Med Sci Law. 1982;22:195-8.
Knight B. Forensic Pathology. 2nd ed. Arnold Publishers. 1996;345-406.
Apurba N, Principles of Forensic Medicine. 1st ed, Calcutta: Central Book Agency. 1995;320-48.
Lucas J, Goldfeder LB, Gill JR. Bodies found in the waterways of New York city. Journal of Forensic Science. 2002;47:137-41.
Vinayak V, Goyal MK, Rai A. Diatoms as a great forensic tool in investigation of death due to drowning; a case study. Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. 2010;27:51-4.
Mukherjee JB. Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. 2nd ed. Calcutta: Arnold Associates. 1994;475-539.
Farrugia A, Ludes B. Diagnostic of drowning in forensic medicine. Forensic medicine- from old problems to new challenges. Edited by Duarte Nuno Vieira, Published by In Tech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia. 2011;53.
Rao D. Drowning. Available at: http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/E-Book/asphyxia/drowning. Accessed: Oct, 3, 2016.
Vij K. Textbook of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. 3rd Edition 2005;202-4.
Mathiharan K, Patnaik AK. Modi’s Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology. 23rd edition. New Delhi: Lexis Nexis. 2006;610-1.
Singh M, Kulshrestha P, Satpathy DK. Synchronous use of maggots and diatoms in decomposed bodies. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. 2004;26:121-4.
Reddy KSN. The Essentials of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. 27th edition. Hyderabad; K. Saguna Devi. 2008;150.
Nandy A. Principals of Forensic Medicine, 2nd edition. 2004;331-2.
Mitali, Mishra MK, Vinayak V, Gupta AK. Confirmation of drowning death by using diatoms as a tool: case study. International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Legal Medicine. 2010;12:38-40.
Magrey AH, Raj M. Role of diatoms in forensic diagnosis of drowning cases from Jammu & Kashmir. Biosci Biotech Res Comm. 2014;7:72-7.
Sitthiwong N, Ruangyuttikarn W, Vongvivach S, Peerapornpisal Y. Detection and identification of diatoms in tissue samples of drowning victims. Chiang Mai J Sci. 2014;41(5.1):1020-31.
Kumar R, Seth MK, Suseela MR. Diatoms of Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. J Indian Bot Soc. 2012;91:221-9.
Malik MK, Jakhar P, Kadian A. Role of diatoms in forensic investigation: Case studies from Haryana. International Journal of Forensic Science & Pathology. 2013;1:11-2.
Purohit A. Identification of diatom species of water samples from different wells and baudis of District Kangra, Himachal. A project report submitted to department of Zoology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra 2014 (Unpublished).
Sharma I. Diatomological studies of water sample of some rivers of district Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. A project report submitted to department of Zoology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. 2014 (Unpublished).
- Abstract Viewed: 1114 times
- PDF Downloaded: 600 times