Abstract

Identification of unknown dead bodies is one of the most complex and timeconsuming challenges faced by forensic medicine and law-enforcement authorities in India. Rapid urbanization, mass disasters, migration, and poor maintenance of biometric records often delay or prevent positive identification, leading to serious humanitarian, legal, and administrative consequences. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has recently emerged as a transformative tool capable of enhancing the accuracy, speed, and reliability of human identification through automated facial recognition, fingerprint matching, dental imaging, skeletal analysis, and DNA data interpretation. This review explores the growing need and practical scope of AI-driven technologies in the identification of unknown human remains in India. It traces existing conventional methods, highlights their limitations, and discusses how AI can be integrated into national forensic systems such as the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) and the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS). The article further examines ethical, legal, and privacy implications under Indian laws and provides policy recommendations for implementation. The review concludes that AI-based identification, when integrated with standard forensic protocols and supported by robust data governance, can significantly strengthen India’s medico-legal framework and ensure faster delivery of justice.

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