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Multiple medico-legal issues in decomposed bodies recovered from water: Local study

09 May 2022

BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody There are several medico-legal issues concerning the recovery of a decomposed body from water in terms of restrictions pertaining to investigations and the interpretation of the findings, academics noted. This observation was made by C.T. Mahanama (Registrar in Forensic Medicine at the Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya) and J. Warushahennadi (Senior Lecturer at the Ruhuna University’s Medical Faculty’s Forensic Medicine Department) in a case report on “Drowning after a crocodile attack: A case report” which was published in the Journal of the Ruhunu Clinical Society 25 (1) in December, 2020. Crocodile’s attacks on humans are, as noted in B.L. Wamisho, J. Bates, M. Tompkins, R. Islam, N. Nyamulani, C. Ngulube, and N.C. Mkandawire’s “Ward round – crocodile bites in Malawi: Microbiology and surgical management”, reported from a number of countries, including those in Asia. Crocodile attacks cause significant injuries and deaths in Sri Lankan communities that live near water bodies which are inhabited by species of crocodiles. Forensic pathologists encounter deaths following crocodile bites on and off. However, Mahanama and Warushahennadi observe that there are no national statistical numbers of deaths due to crocodile attacks in Sri Lanka. Crocodile bite injuries are generally of the nature of a crushing and the degloving (when a large piece of skin and the layer of soft tissue right under it are partially or completely ripped from the body) of soft tissues, which, per the aforementioned Malawian study, ranges from multiple puncture wounds, the avulsion (a forcible separation or detachment such as a tearing away of a body part) of limbs, or the complete, traumatic, disruption of the body, with only an incomplete body remaining for examination. Therefore, Mahanama and Warushahennadi presented a case of a decomposed body recovered from water with non-fatal puncture wounds following a crocodile bite. Case report The body of a 72-year-old man was recovered from the water, three days after going missing. He was last seen alive washing his vegetable harvest on the bank of a river. His body was recovered about a kilometre away, upstream, from the place where he was last seen alive. A medico-legal autopsy with pre-autopsy radiographs of the lower limbs, the histopathology (diagnosis and study of diseases of the tissues) of the internal organs, toxicology and diatom (single celled algae [predominantly aquatic, photosynthetic, and nucleus bearing organisms that lack  true roots, stems, leaves, and specialised multicellular reproductive structures of plants]) studies were performed. The body was in a moderate state of decomposition with generalised bloating, desquamation (the shedding of the outer layers of the skin) of the skin with the degloving of the skin of the feet and the hands, and marbling (the vaguely arborescent [resembling a tree in growth or appearance] mosaic of discolouration due to prominent subdermal [located or placed beneath the skin] vessels – especially the veins – on the skin of a body in early [three to five days] decomposition) which was observed on the upper part of the body. The face was bloated with eaten up eyelids and a protruded tongue. Scrotal distension was evident. There were several punctured lacerations (cuts) around the left foreleg. The injuries were circular and oval in shape, with elevated abraded (superficial injuries of the skin and visceral linings in the body, resulting in a break in the continuity of tissue) margins. Two puncture wounds, sizes three centimetres (cm) into one cm and two cm into one cm were on the front aspect of the knee and on the mid left foreleg with a 12 cm distance between them. The three lacerations which were on the back of the right leg were two into one cm and were situated three cm in distance. The injuries have penetrated into the underlying soft tissues but the bones underneath were intact. Internal examination revealed distended, spongy, and pale lungs. The stomach was filled with water. All the internal organs were intact and softened with putrefactive colour changes. The histopathology of the organs did not reveal pathology except the putrefactive changes. The diatom test and toxicological analysis were negative. The most common injuries sustained in a crocodilian attack are, according to D.G.E. Caldicott, D. Croser, C. Manolis, G. Webb, and A. Britton’s “Crocodile attack in Australia: An analysis of its incidence and review of the pathology and management of crocodilian attacks in general", a series of soft tissue and bone based injuries, most often of the extremities. The crocodilian teeth are conical in shape and designed for penetration and holding due to weak mouth opening muscles, in turn causing deep puncture wounds, the said Malawian study explains. The puncture wounds caused by crocodile bites, Mahanama and Warushahennadi point out, have to be differentiated from firearm related injuries. The multiple punctured lacerations with marginal abrasion collar which was observed on the deceased, mimicked shotgun-related firearm injuries. But the absence of pellets on X-ray images was supportive of the crocodile attack. Hence, Mahanama and Warushahennadi were able to exclude firearm injuries. Per K. Vanwersch’s “Crocodile bite injury in Southern Malawi”, in the largest series of injuries inflicted by Nile crocodiles, legs and arms accounted for more than 80% of the soft tissue-based injuries. On the deceased, the penetrating laceration was seen in the foreleg. The causes of death in crocodile attacks are, C.A.P. Mekisi and J.R. Wardill’s “Crocodile attacks in the Northern territory of Australia” notes, drowning or fatal mechanical injuries caused by the bites. The injuries observed on the deceased were not fatal. The pale, distended lungs are, as observed in P. Saukko and B. Knight’s “Forensic Pathology, Third Edition”, characteristic features of drowning. Therefore, Mahanama and Warushahennadi emphasise that drowning could be the cause of death. K. Verma explains in the “Role of diatoms in the world of forensic science” that a positive diatom test is helpful in determining the cause of death as drowning even in the advanced stage of decomposition and in skeletonised bodies. However, Mahanama and Warushahennadi add that the absence of diatoms does not rule out drowning which was the case in this instance. The histopathology was negative except for the putrefactive changes which caused difficulty in the reading and interpretation of the findings. Therefore, drowning is the most possible cause of death. The victim may have been grabbed from the lower limb and taken into the deep water by the crocodile, thus leading to drowning.  


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