Introduction:
A weapon is something that is used to protect oneself from a potential physical threat or to inflict an injury upon others. From time immemorial weapons have been used by humans for these purposes. If we take a look at the time of the stone age, although humans were not as civilized as we are now they also had weapons. The weapons may not be as advanced as they are now, but the combinations of stones and bark of the trees, or even fire in that case were sufficient for them to protect themselves from the attacks of wild animals. The only stress that humans had earlier was to secure food and shelter, and so their weapons were simple. Those were in utility with the requirements of humans. But as we progressed our greed for more territorial power and the rage of seeking revenge from the enemies lead us to the development of highly lethal weapons. We became so engrossed in developing weapons that we forgot the kind of injury and impact it will we have on society as a whole.
The infamous World War 1 saw a variety of weapons such as mustard gas, machine guns, and other chemical weapons.[1] The common wounds found were that of the bursting of artilleries and tissues which were often filled with a lot of dirt, causing infections that often lead to the death of the person. Other injuries included burn injuries, gas injuries, and psychological injuries.[2] Some weapon injuries are so lethal that various conventions and agreements are made to ban the usage of these weapons. Hague Convention, Geneva Protocol, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are some of the popular conventions.
Each weapon is of a different type and the injury caused by these also varies from weapon to weapon. Injuries caused by some weapons are less lethal they may cause a cut or two or break a bone while some weapons cause can cause instant death. Some weapons may lead to a slow death while others may lead to instant death. Some weapons may cause a lot of pain and suffering while others may not. The amount of loss of blood also depends upon the kind of weapon used. It is also to be noted that certain kinds of weapons are preferred by killers or murderers such as a knife or a gun while in case of suicide a person may use poison or sharp objects to inflict injury to oneself.
Sharp Force Injury
Injuries produced by pointed objects or objects with sharp edges are referred to as “sharp force injuries.” Sharp force injuries are characterized by a relatively well-defined traumatic separation of tissues, occurring when a sharp-edged or pointed object comes into contact with the skin and underlying tissues. Three specific subtypes of sharp force injuries exist, as follows: stab wounds, incised wounds, and chop wounds [3]
Sharp force injury lies in the jurisdiction of a medical examiner and the coroner. Sharp force injuries have been seen since ancient times and can be said as one of the oldest ways to injure oneself or others. With the advent of technology, the injuries caused by sharp objects have declined but it can be said that they still are one of the popular sources used in homicides and suicides. One of the interesting things to be noted is that, although a murderer and a person who kills himself use the same kind of pointed object, the way they use can be different. It can also help the investigators to determine whether the case in front of them is that of homicide or suicide. In case of a homicide, it is generally observed that the culprit inflicts the cut without removing any covering or clothes (except in the case of sexual assault) whereas in the case of suicide a person inflicts injury by first removing the cloth.
As mentioned above, the term “sharp force injury” encompasses essentially 3 separate but related injury types. Stab or puncture wounds are produced by sharp, pointed objects, wherein the direction of force is more perpendicular to the skin surface, as opposed to tangential or parallel. In most instances, the wound is deeper than it is long on the skin surface.
In contrast, incised or cut wounds are produced by sharp-edged objects, wherein the direction of force is more tangential or parallel to the skin surface, as opposed to perpendicular. In most circumstances, the wound is longer on the skin surface than it is deep.
Chop wounds can be considered a combination of sharp and blunt force trauma, wherein a relatively bulky object with an edge, or a fast-moving object with an edge, impacts the body, resulting in injuries that have features of sharp force trauma as well as those of blunt force trauma.
Where an injury is inflicted by a sharp object, the crime scene is usually covered by the blood. Blood drip patterns, blood spatter patterns can be seen all over the crime scene. This is because often the skin wounds open because of which the blood flows leading to excessive blood loss. At the crime scene, the investigators can discover evidence, which is often blood wash off the weapon or stains of blood. It is also to be seen, that in case of these injuries the such as a hair or any other trace of DNA. In case of suicide, the weapon of injury may be found near the victim itself. In other cases, a piece of weapon might be inside the victim’s body which can be recovered by the coroner. This can lead to the identification of the weapon used.
There can be circumstances that can make the identification of sharp-force injuries difficult. One such circumstance is that of decomposition. It is important in such cases to carefully evaluate the tissues underlying the skin, to distinguish true sharp force injuries from decomposition. However, the tissues of victims of sharp force injury can certainly decompose. In such settings, the true injuries can become altered by decomposition. Another problem that can be faced is that the injury by sharp objects can be confused with animal bites. Domestic and wild animal claw marks can be confused with incised wounds. Bite marks can be considered as stab/puncture wounds.[4]
Firearm Wounds
A firearm may be generally defined as an assembly of a barrel and action from which a projectile is propelled through the deflagration (rapid burning) of a propellant (gunpowder).[5]
A careful medical examination of wounds caused by a firearm may determine several aspects that can help the investigators to clear some ambiguity regarding the crime scene. The injury helps to determine the range of fire, type of weapon used, the trajectory of the missile, and the extent of the injury inflicted upon the person. It can help the investigators to determine that whether the gunshot resulted in instant death if not then how much time it took to incapacitate the victim.
A firearm injury is commonly seen in case of homicide, suicide, and some cases accident. Firearm injuries are fatal. Most of the cases lead to instant death. In other cases, a person might survive the injury but may eventually succumb to death in weeks or months as the wounds do not completely heal. In the case of Madivalappa Channappa … vs Unknown[6], the injured was shot by some distance by the accused from a pistol, the injured fell on the ground. But after some time he was able to go to the police station to seek help, thus, it is not always necessary that a shot will lead to instant death.
Investigating the crime scene is not easy where the injury is inflicted by the gunshot wound is not easy as compared to that of the case of sharp object injury. Unlike sharp object injury, the blood in gunshot wound is not so much. So fingerprints cannot be traced. Also, the culprit might not be in close proximity with the victim so any chance of finding evidence of DNA is also difficult. However, traces of projectile or gunpowder may be found which can be tested. also, the investigators can look out for traces of bullet on the wall or other objects it can help them to figure out the position of the gun holder.
In evaluating firearm wounds, the decedent’s clothing should be examined, if at all possible. The clothing should be examined to attempt to match the defects on it with those on the body, as well as for the presence or absence of residues from the firearm discharge. These residues will predominately take the form of soot or gunpowder particles. A bullet can create either a perforating or penetrating wound. Perforating when the bullet makes both an entrance and exit mark. Penetrating wounds emerge when the bullet has entered the body but did not get out. It is also to be noted that the bullet may slip down to another position that differs from the initial position of the shoot. This happens when a bullet penetrates through artillery or heart. It often gets pumped to a different position.
In the case of suicides, the preferred form of a firearm is a handgun. In suicidal cases, most of the wounds are on the head[7] but in a significant number of cases, they are on the side of the head opposite that of the dominant hand.[8]
Blunt Force Trauma
Injuries resulting from an impact with a dull, firm surface or object. Individual injuries may be patterned (eg, characteristics of the wound that suggest a particular type of blunt object) or nonspecific.
The scope of blunt force injuries is wide as compared to other injuries. These kinds of injuries include accidents by motor car, motor vehicle collision; boating accidents. other deaths caused by blunt force trauma include being hit by a bat, fist, or ball. These kinds of injuries are most commonly seen in accidents, homicide, and suicides.
Although blunt force injuries would not always result in instant death. But these injuries often cause infections which slowly after some time begin to show effect and eventually lead to the death of the person.
The severity of injuries inflicted as a result of blunt force trauma is dependent on the amount of kinetic energy transferred and the tissue to which the energy is transferred.[9] . Impacts involving a large surface area — either with regard to the impacting object or with regard to the tissues being impacted — will result in a greater dispersion of energy over a larger area and less injury to the impacted tissues. For example, a thin metal pipe striking some part of the body would be expected to inflict greater localized injuries than a broad board of similar mass and velocity striking the same part of the body. Likewise, an impact on a small area of a curved surface, such as the head, will cause greater damage than would be caused were that same impact to occur on a flat surface, such as the back since there will be a more concentrated point of impact on the head.
The injury caused by blunt force trauma may lead to blood spatter and can make the job of the investigator easy. As seen in the sharp object wounds, the fingerprints and the footprints can be traced unless the blood is wiped by the perpetrator. In case of motor accidents, evidence can be collected by tracing paint or collecting shattered pieces of glass. Other things include the impact of force on bones which may have left a tool mark on them. These can be used by forensics to identify the type of vehicle or weapon so used. Blunt force trauma often causes abrasion or contusions on the skin. The pattern and print of these marks can also aid in identifying the kind of weapon used to inflict such injury.[10]
Sometimes blunt force injury causes can involve breakage in bone. Even a crack in a bone caused due to an injury can be considered to be a fracture. In the case of Hori Lal v. State of Uttar Pradesh[11] bone-deep incised wound which resulted in cutting the bone was considered as a fracture. In Mokkasamy v. Unknown,[12] the court observed “where the evidence is merely that a bone has been cut and there is nothing whatever to indicate the extent of the cut, whether deep or a mere scratch upon the surface, it is impossible to infer from that evidence alone that grievous hurt has been caused within the meaning of the definition in section 320 of Indian Penal Code. A scratch or a cut which does not go across the bone cannot be said to be a fracture of a bone within the meaning of Section 320 ”.[13]
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that different kinds of weapons inflict different kinds of a wound. The type of wound inflicted may help the investigators to know about the weapon used and also some information about the person who inflicted such injury. Moreover, it can also tell that whether the case is that of suicide or homicide. A proper study of wounds and the crime scene together can give away a lot of information about the case in front of the investigators.
References:
[1] War Injuries,Medicine in World War I https://onlineexhibits.library.yale.edu/s/wwi-medicine/page/war-injuries.
[2] Introduction, Injuries in World War I https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/injuries-in-world-war-i.html
[3] Joseph A Prahlow, Forensic Autopsy of sharp force injury, Medscape, (Oct 18,2016 ) https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1680082-overview#a9
[4] Joseph A Prahlow, Forensic Autopsy of sharp force injury, Medscape, (Oct 18,2016 ) https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1680082-overview#a9
[5] Bussard ME, Wormley SL Jr, Zent J,eds NRA Firearms Sourcebook The National Rifle Association of America;2006
[6] 1966 CriLJ 672
[7] Blumenthal R. Suicidal Gunshot wounds to the head: a retrospective review of 406 cases Am J Forensic Med Pathol.2007 (Dec. 28 1991) https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1680107-overview#a1
[8] Randall E. Frost Forensic Pathology of Firearm Wounds, Medscape,( Jan 11,2021) https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1680107-overview#a1
[9] DiMaio VJ, DiMaioD. Blunt trauma wounds and blunt trauma injuries of the trunk and extremeties. Forensic Pathology.2nd ed. Boca Raton,Fla:CRC Press; (2001). https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1680107-overview#a1
[10] Nicholas I Batalis, Forensic Autopsy of Blunt Force Trauma, Medscape, (Mar 02,2016) https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1680107-overview#a1
[11] 32SCR 237(1970)
[12] 1965 CriLJ 48(Madras).
[13] ibid
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