Citation

Behera C, Chauhan M, Devassy S. Med. Leg. J. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Ex. Senior Resident, Department of Forensic Medicine &; Toxicology, AIIMS, New Delhi, India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Medico-Legal Society, Publisher SAGE Publications)

DOI

10.1177/0025817219898178

PMID

32320638

Abstract

Adipocere is medico-legally exigent post-mortem change alternative to putrefaction. Sprinkling table salt over corpse to hasten disintegration and keep carnivores and nibblers off is a feature of ritualistic burial. We describe an unusual murder concealment wherein assailant put quantum of table salt over and around dead body while burying in jungle to hasten disintegration. Unexpected adipocere involving table salt preserved the body and firearm injuries. A mystifying thanatological aspect was the basic fact of table salt osmotically drawing even intrinsic body water needed for adipocere in non-damp conditions. It exceptionally formed in a week, and in a shallow grave, its formation in such conditions being very unusual and unreported.

Language: en

Keywords

Salt – medico-legal importance (adipocere); corpus delicti; murder concealment; thanatology