Citation

Pramanik P, Vidua RK, Patel S. Med. Leg. J. 2016; 85(1): 43-46.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Medicine, AIIMS, Bhopal, India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Medico-Legal Society, Publisher SAGE Publications)

DOI

10.1177/0025817216677008

PMID

27799444

Abstract

Bulldozer fatalities are usually due to accidental crushing of the body at the workplace. However, severance of the skull cap simulating a chopping injury to head is rare in the literature. Medico-legal investigation may be posed with different challenges when carrying out an autopsy of a victim with this devastating head injury. The police will seek an opinion about the type of weapon responsible for the injuries, the nature of injuries produced and manner of death. In the present case, the victim was hit at dusk by a protruding part of the bulldozer blade as he crossed in front of a bulldozer that was approaching his tractor from the opposite side of the road. His skull cap was severed and he died instantly. This report considers the circumstances of his death, its mechanisms and strategies for preventing such deaths.

© The Author(s) 2016.

Language: en