Background: In forensic practice , violent asphyxial deaths are common incident and determination of manner of violent asphyxial deaths by Post Mortem examination is of utmost significance. This study is conducted to know the status of mode of violent asphyxial deaths in this region of India. Materials & Method: It is a retrospective study conducted at Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Government Medical College, Akola during the period of Jan 2011 to Dec. 2012. The information was collected from the police inquest, post mortem reports and hospital records. Result: Total 2602 autopsies were carried out during the study period and out of which 261 cases were of violent asphyxial deaths (10.03%). The males were outnumbered the females. Hanging was the commonest method of violent asphyxial deaths (72.41%) followed by drowning (23.37%). Only 2.68% of cases were of strangulation. Majority (63.21%) of victims of violent asphyxial deaths were belongs to rural areas. Conclusion: The majority was males (75.09%) from age group of 21-30 years (30.65%) and hanging was the most common mode of violent asphyxia death.

Keywords: Asphyxia; Hanging; Strangulation; Drowning; Suffocation; Akola; Maharashtra; Vidarbha.