Citation

Swain R, Dhaka S, Sharma M, Bakshi MS, Murty OP, Sikary AK. Med. Sci. Law 2018; 58(3): 183-185.

Affiliation

28730 Department of Forensic Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, British Academy of Forensic Sciences, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0025802418768320

PMID

29683045

Abstract

Accidental cut-throat injuries are extremely rare and usually involve a sharp-edged weapon. In this paper, two cases of a cut-throat wound to two auto-rickshaw drivers are presented where the broken windshield of the auto-rickshaws was responsible for the wounds. In both the cases, fatal incised wounds were present over the neck, cutting the soft tissue along with the major vessels. The death occurred due to exsanguination caused by neck-vessel injury in one case and trachea along with neck-vessel injury in the second case. Although the wounds on the neck initially suggested homicide, they were found to have occurred accidentally as a result of a road traffic accident involving a head-on collision of auto rickshaws. The injuries were inflicted by the shattered glass of the windshield.

Language: en

Keywords

Auto-rickshaw driver; fatal wound; glass wound; road traffic accident; seat belt; stab wound