Identification of the Unknown: a Case Report

Identification is the determination of the individuality of a person based on certain physical characteristics. It is the process of exact fixation of personality. In partial or incomplete identification, certain facts are determined, such as; race, age, sex, stature and etc., while other characteristics are not known.
Case Report: Unknown skeleton came to the department of forensic medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, and Varanasi in 2015 for the purpose of identification and to determine the cause of death. It was estimated to be a male of age 25-35 years with a depressed comminuted fracture along with two other antemortem fractures in the skull. So, based upon the type of skull fracture found, the most likely cause of death was opined to be coma as a result of head injury. Time since death was estimated to around 3-4 weeks based on the ambient temperature being 40±5ºC, entomology and semi-skeletonised condition of the body.
The case has been reported in view of the fact that an unknown body with a little history came to us mainly for the purpose of identification had eventually turned out to be a case of possible homicide. Hence, a thorough examination of each and every case is recommended.