Background: The profile of medicolegal autopsy cases is important in order to know the death statistics in a region due to unnatural causes and also help to address the demographic needs according to the mortality statistics specific to that area. Material and Methods: The present study is a retrospective study of autopsies performed at the tertiary care centre, S Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka India. Data collected from department of medical records and department of forensic medicine from January 2016 to December 2017 comprising 64 cases. Results: Out of 64 cases maximum number of the postmortem were in the age group of 21–30 years, majority of victims were males (61%), in identified bodies 88% were Hindu, 8% Muslim, 4 % were others. In our study 57.5% were rural residents and only 34.5% were urban. In 8% cases religion and residential status could not be determined. Death due to burn injuries and its complications formed majority of cases (37.5%) in our study followed by RTA (22%) and poisoning (15.5%). Conclusions: In our hospital based study of medicolegal autopsy cases- majority were in 3rd decade of life, males constituted more in number as compared to female, rural residents were more in number, Hindus being majority in number formed bulk of cases, burns, RTA and poisoning were seen as leading cause of death in medicolegal autopsies.

Keywords: Autopsy; Natural Deaths; Unnatural Deaths; Road Traffic Injuries; Burns; Hanging.