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Ref:Aggrawal Anil. Exhumation - Medical And Legal Aspects. Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, 2001; Vol. 2, No. 2 (July - December 2001): ; Published: September 26, 2001, (Accessed:
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-Anil Aggrawal
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The word Exhumation comes from Latin words ex meaning "out of", and humus, meaning "ground". Thus the word literally means "out of ground". It means authorized digging out the coffin of a dead person from his grave, in order to establish his cause of death, or to decide upon some other relevant fact, such as the person's identity.
Exhumation is rarely done in India, because in our country, the bodies are disposed off by cremation (burning). Only certain communities bury their dead, and exhumation is relevant only for them. It becomes necessary if at the time of death, there were no suspicions and the body was buried without a post-mortem. Later on fresh facts may come to light, showing some foul play. So a post-mortem examination becomes necessary to establish his cause of death. Exhumation also becomes necessary, when the first post-mortem was inadequate, and it is thought that a second post-mortem may bring some more facts to light. This basically means exhumation combined with doing a second post-mortem.
Exhumation must be differentiated clearly from the retrieval of a body clandenstinely buried body by the criminals. In the latter case, the body was never legally buried (or inhumed) in the first place. The person was killed by a criminal or a group of criminals and his body was secretly buried in order to destroy evidence of murder. Retrieval of such a body is NOT exhumation. It is simply unearthing of the body buried illegally and in a criminal fashion by some criminal elements.
The term exhumation is applied only when a proper inhumation (ritual burial of the body in a legal and legitimate fashion) was done in the first place. This difference is not merely academic; it has important legal repercussions. In India, while a proper exhumation can only be done a magistrate under section 176 of Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.), retrieval of an illegally buried body can be done even by the police under section 174 of Cr.P.C.
The body can be exhumed only upon the written order from the First Class Magistrate (judicial or executive). Coroner system does not exist in India, but where coroner system exists, coroners can usually order exhumation. In India, police CAN NOT order exhumation. In India it is a usual practice for magistrates to constitute a board comprising of three different forensic pathologists from three different medical institutions. The board jointly supervises exhumations (figure 1) and conducts postmortem examination of remains. Although law does not specifically require the formation of such a board, it is usually done in order to send out a message to the aggrieved relatives that the postmortem was done in a free and fair manner with no pressure from any quarters, and also that no inadvertent mistakes could be made (which could perhaps be there if there were only a single doctor).
Exhumation is usually done in broad daylight. For this reason, the exhumation team should reach the site of burial (graveyard) in the early morning hours.
The magistrate or the coroner ordering the exhumation and the doctor should be present at the site.
The grave is identified properly, with the help of relatives and the official in charge of the graveyard.
If there are too many curious spectators, the area should be screened off. Professional diggers are then requested to remove soil from the grave. When the coffin becomes visible, strong ropes are passed beneath the coffin, and it is lifted up (figure 2).
Soil from above, below, and from all four sides of the coffin should be collected and preserved in separate glass jars, with identification tags. In addition, at least two samples must be taken from some distance - say around 25 to 30 yards from the grave (figures 3, 4). This is very necessary in some poisoning cases. One example would make the situation clear. If the person is alleged to have been killed by administration of arsenic, and arsenic is found in the body after exhumation, the defense may take the plea that the arsenic found in the body leached in the body from the surrounding soil. It is well known that soil may contain traces of arsenic. An examination of soil recovered from around the grave would reveal whether there was arsenic in the surrounding soil or not. Even if arsenic is present in the surrounding soil, it does not necessarily mean that the defense would become very strong. If the concentration of arsenic found in the body is more than that found in the soil, it clearly indicates that arsenic could not have passively diffused from the soil to the body.
It is customary to open the lid of the coffin once it is brought out of the grave (figure 5). It not only allows foul gases to escape in open air (rather than be released in the mortuary later), but also enables the pathologist to make a quick examination of the remains. When the coffin is opened, the medical officer in-charge should first of all examine the body in situ, and preferably take photographs. Bones may be friable, and may break during subsequent handling, so in situ examination is often quite helpful.
After an in situ examination is done, the body is transferred to the mortuary for a post-mortem. Here the post-mortem is done as in any other case (figure 6). If there are worms or other insects over the body, it might be tempting to sprinkle insecticides over the body, but it should never be done, as it might interfere later with the determination of poison in the body. If the smell is too offensive, it is advisable to wear a gauze mask dipped in a solution of potassium permanganate. Samples of viscera should be taken for detection of poisons. Many poisons, such as metallic poisons remain in the body for several years. Hair, nails and bones such as femur may also reveal metallic poisons like arsenic.
If only bones are recovered in exhumation (as in very old graves), the bones must be boiled before examination. Maceration by this process may reveal diagnosis not available otherwise by ordinary examination. Maceration by this process is recommended not only in medicolegal autopsies, but also in historical material.
In India, there is no time limit for ordering of the exhumation, but many western countries have well-defined time limit up to which exhumation can be done. For instance, in France the time limit is 10 years, and in Germany the time limit is 30 years. Thus in France, if in the 11th year (say) of death, some relevant facts are found which reveal foul play, even then the body can not be exhumed.
Rarely animals have been exhumed in murder investigation of human beings. This unusual possibility must be kept in mind, when investigating a case of murder.
[Ethel Lillie Major, a 24 year old cantankerous woman, had an illegitimate daughter Auriel. Ethel's parents passed her off as Ethel's sister and married Ethel to Arthur Major in 1918. In 1919, the couple had their own child. Initially the couple lived with Ethel's parents, but in 1929, the couple moved into their own house at Kirkby-on-Bain.
Around 1934, differences began to crop up between the couple. Arthur found out the truth about Ethel's "sister" Auriel, and began an affair with another woman, a neighbor, Mrs. Rose Kettleborough. Ethel claimed to have found two letters written by Rose to her husband. She showed these letters to her doctor with the comment: 'A man like him is not fit to live, and I will do him in'.
On 22 May 1934, Arthur Major ate some corned beef and was soon taken ill. Ethel had access to strychnine, which her father, an ex-gamekeeper, kept with him to eliminate vermin. A key was found in Ethel's purse that could open a box containing a bottle of strychnine. Ethel's father vaguely remembered having misplaced his spare keys some years before. The corned beef, which seemed to have started Arthur's symptoms was proved to have been bought by the couple's 15 year old son - on his mother's instructions.
While eating, Arthur had complained about the bad taste of corned beef and had thrown some of it to his neighbor's dog, who quickly lapped it up and died on 23 May after suffering muscular spasms. Arthur died on 24 May 1934 at 10.40 pm after suffering from severe convulsions and spasms. His official cause of death was given as Status epilepticus.
An anonymous letter sent on 26 May 1934, to the investigating police officer, Inspector Dodson of the Horncastle force implicated Ethel in the death. The dog's body was exhumed (a rare case where an animal's body was exhumed in death investigation of a human being6), and strychnine found in it (by Dr. Roche Lynch, distinguished analyst to the Home Office). Arthur's funeral was immediately halted and a post-mortem examination ordered. Strychnine was found in his body too.
Chief-Inspector (later Commander) Hugh Young was placed in overall charge of the case. When he went to interview Ethel, she exclaimed,"I've never had any strychnine poison". When Young reminded her, that he never mentioned strychnine, she immediately tried to correct matters,"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have made a mistake7".
When the case came up for trial at Lincoln Assizes, Ethel was defended by Mr. Normal (later Lord) Birkett. However Ethel was found guilty and executed at Hull Prison on 19 December 1934.]
(1) Jerry McElligott - Personal communication (signed guestbook). (Back)
(2) Fenton JJ. Toxicology - A Case Oriented Approach. CRC Press, 2002, page 309-311. (Back)
(3) Felsen G. Tombstones - Seventy-five famous people and their final resting places. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California, 1996, page 114. (Back)
(4) Mobus U, Demmler G, Dressler J. The body buried twice. Am-J-Forensic-Med-Pathol. 2002 Mar; 23(1): 52-3. (Back)
(5) Ludwig, J. Current Methods of Autopsy Practice, second edition. W.B.Saunders Company, 1979, page 136. (Back)
(6) Gaute, J.H.H. and Odell, Robin. The Murderers' Who's Who - 150 years of Notorious Murder cases. Pan Books, London and Sydney, 1980, page 217. (Back)
(7) Lane, B. The Encyclopedia of Forensic Science. Headline, 1992, page 600-603. (Back)
(8) Mant AK, Furbank R (1957) Adipocere - A Review. J. Forens. Med; 4(1):18-35. (Back)
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