title: Non-vehicular homicides masquerading as road traffic accidents.
abstract: Interfering with or planting evidence to disguise the cause of a death is not uncommon in forensic practice. Homicides staged as road accidents are, however, rarely encountered by crime scene investigators. We report two homicides which were presented as road traffic accidents. Case 1: Dead body of a 35-year-old male was brought for autopsy with history of road traffic accident. Primary police inquiry suggested that the victim was knocked down by a speeding four-wheeler, while walking by the side of a high way with his friends. On postmortem examination the deceased's death was found due to homicidal smothering staged as a road traffic accident. Case 2: Dead body of 40-year-old male was brought for autopsy with history of road traffic accident. It was an unwitnessed crush by a speeding four-wheeler. However, on postmortem examination, the deceased was found to have died from homicidal multiple stab wounds with his death staged as a road traffic accident. Importance of meticulous autopsy to determine accurately the cause of death is emphasized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Aurangabad, India.
authors.forename: K U
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Zine
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Ashwini Rural Medical College, Solapur, India.
authors.forename: Anand B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Mugadlimath
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, and Toxicology, Sri Aurobindo Medical College and PG Institute, Indore, India drmrsane@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mandar Ramchandra
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sane
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Shri. B.M.Patil Medical College, Bijapur, India.
authors.forename: Chandrashekhar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bhuyyar
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Pondichery, India.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Rathod
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D008192:Deception; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Manipulation of evidence; cause of death multiple stab injuries; homicides presented as road traffic accidents; smothering