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Maggots in Detached Hair: A Valuable Conclusion

Manipady Shahnavaz , Manipady Shahnavaz , Bastia Binaya Kumar , Menezes Ritesh G , Kanchan Tanuj

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Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 5(1):p 39-41, January - March 2012. | DOI:

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Abstract

An unknown dead body of a middle aged man was found hanging from a tree, by a coir rope, in the Indian forests. The body was in an advanced state of decomposition and partial skeletonization was evident in the upper parts of the body. Crime scene investigation revealed a bunch of hair located at a distance away from the dead body with a few maggots crawling on the recovered bunch of hair. The source of the isolated hair bunch was perplexing and there was a possibility of violence ensuing ante-mortem separation of hairs. The length and texture of isolated hairs matched with the scalp hairs on the dead body, which was later confirmed by microscopy. The presence of maggots in the isolated hair bunch recovered from the deep forest suggests that the flies had laid eggs on these hairs in situ. The hairs were later detached from the scalp as a normal postmortem sequel. The maggots that were present in the scalp accompanied the hairs during its postmortem detachment. These findings confirm that the isolated hairs had their origin in the corpse, and rules out the ante-mortem separation of hairs, a possibility of any scuffle or homicidal attempt. The above case justifies the diverse implementations of Forensic Entomology in crime investigation.

Keywords: Forensic entomology; Maggots; Detached hair.

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