Forensic Prof. T. NATARAJA MOORTHY | Management and science university,Malaysia (original) (raw)

Papers by Forensic Prof. T. NATARAJA MOORTHY

GAP Indian Journal of Forensics and Behavioural Sciences, 2022

International Journal of Medical Toxicology & Legal Medicine, 2022

Crime Scene Report, 2022

Background: Suicide is the way of ending one’s own life. The method of suicide varies from countr... more Background: Suicide is the way of ending one’s own life. The method of suicide varies from country to country and common methods include hanging, poisoning, self-immolation and so on. In India, the suicide rate of females is higher than males and many married women have been committing suicide for many reasons. The Indian legal system has
taken steps to address this concern on married women by incorporating section of law which identify and punish the abettor. Under section 174(3) CrPC (Death of a woman within seven years of marriage), the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) should conduct an inquiry to determine the reason if any dowry harassment by husband and/or inlaws, behind the death of that married woman. During my forensic crime scene investigation career in India (1979- 2003), RDO used to request Forensic Crime Scene Investigator (FCSI), Mobile Forensic Science Laboratory (MFSL), in such inquiries and to visit such death scenes and assist the investigation forensically and arrive the conclusion.
One such indoor death scene, the author had visited and assisted the RDO, is presented herewith. Gist of the case: A
woman aged 22 years old, married two years before found hanging in her house with feet touched the floor. The woman’s father had lodged a complaint that her daughter was murdered by her husband and made her hang. The Inspector of Police arrived at the scene and registered an FIR (First information report) under section 174(3) CrPC and informed the RDO. The RDO advised the Police Inspector to inform the forensic crime scene investigator to visit and assist the investigation forensically. Crime Scene Observation: The FCSI, also the corresponding author (TN) who immediately arrived at the scene along with the Revenue officials made careful observations. On detailed examination of the scene and dead body, TN explained to the RDO about the death scene and forensic findings. Conclusion: The author finally concluded that the death was due to suicidal hanging, based on the presence of toe impressions with other evidence.

The crime scene investigators use forensic footprint analysis to obtain vital information to solv... more The crime scene investigators use forensic footprint analysis to obtain vital information to solve crime. These include the estimation of stature, body weight, gender and age. Literature review shows that limited studies were conducted on body weight determination using foot impressions. This study aims to develop body weight determination models for an indigenous Melanau population residing in Borneo Island of east Malaysia from footprint and foot outline anthropometry. Footprint study results showed that breadth measurements provided better result in body weight determination than length measurements. Anthropometric measurements were made from a sample of 210 adults, with equal representation of 105 males and 105 females, following the standard procedure. Informed consent and ethical approval were obtained. The obtained data were analysed with PASW 20 computer software and developed population specific model to determine living body weight from footprint and foot outline breadth m...

Forensic is a fascinating term used not only by the forensic personnel but also by non-forensic p... more Forensic is a fascinating term used not only by the forensic personnel but also by non-forensic personnel for various purposes. Many movies and dramas include forensic elements in their storylines which use forensic techniques contributing to the crime scene investigation and solve the mystery within hours. The gap between forensic science fiction and reality is far wide. The aspects of forensic fiction are different from real-life forensic investigation. Contrary to the way it is portrayed in popular media, crime scene investigation is not glamorous or accomplished in an easy manner [1].

Firearm and ballistics in an important area in forensic investigation. Among three ballistics, te... more Firearm and ballistics in an important area in forensic investigation. Among three ballistics, terminal ballistics plays a vital role in to solve the mystery in crime scenes. The present experimental study is aimed to study the damage pattern caused on Malaysian made hollow blocks by using various firearm. For the experimental study, firearms viz. 0.38 revolver, 9mm submachine gun, 9 mm semi auto pistol, 5.56 mm rifle and 7.62 mm rifle were used with varying ranges. The shooting experiment was conducted at Sungai Buloh shooting range by trained firearms experts, Polis Di Raja Malaysia, Bukit Aman. Kuala Lumpur. The entry and exit damages were analyzed and the result of the investigation provided promising result in determining the type of firearm and other useful information. The entry damages are found to be comparatively smaller than the exit damages in the hollow blocks. The long arms caused more damages on the hollow blocks comparatively than hand arms.

Determination of human stature is an important parameter in person identification. Fingerprints f... more Determination of human stature is an important parameter in person identification. Fingerprints form a valuable physical evidence in crime investigation. The pressure of fingers produced impression on the objects and thus producing fingerprint impression that can be used for person identification. The fingerprints provide useful clue towards narrowing the pool of potentially matching identities. No criminal history record is created for non-offenders and first-time offenders who are out of police view and it is cumbersome to identify them through fingerprint records and hence investigators search for suspects. If the height of the offender is known through fingerprint, it is easy to narrow down the suspects. The arrest is the event that triggers the creation of a criminal history record for a particular case. Literature review shows that very limited studies were conducted in estimating stature from fingerprints and currently there are no population specific standards to determine s...

The Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences and Applied Toxicology, 2020

Objective: To derive regression equations for stature estimation from foot outline lengths of Iba... more Objective: To derive regression equations for stature estimation from foot outline lengths of Iban ethnics in East Malaysia. Material and methods: The study was carried out at Sarawak state, northern Borneo Island in East Malaysia, involving 320 adult Iban subjects (160 males and 160 females).Informed consent and Human Ethical Approval were obtained. The heights of the individuals were recorded with portable height measuring device (SECA 206) and foot outlines were collected following the standard procedure. The data obtained were analyzed with PASW 20 computer software and derived regression equations to estimate stature from foot outline lengths of Iban ethnics. Results: Investigation revealed that all foot outline lengths exhibit statistically positive significant correlation with stature (p<0.001). The mean stature and foot outline lengths are found to be significantly higher in males than females. Correlation coefficient (R) values are found to be higher in the pooled sample...

All the guns have their own unique identifying features and even if the gun has not been left at ... more All the guns have their own unique identifying features and even if the gun has not been left at the crime scene many degrees of information can be determined from the bullet, bullet holes on the targets, the nature of the wound and any residue that is left around it. Researchers have conducted studies about the evaluation and reconstruction of fired bullet paths delivered in indoor scenes and their performance in a unique environment. Bullet performance is typically a function of the matrix in which the bullet interacts. The identification of bullet holes is based, besides the morphology of the hole in question, on the presence of gunshot residue and of blackening in the vicinity of the hole. It is shown that field tests were conducted by police agencies and researchers to discover the relationship between bullet holes on different types of targets and firearms. The present study was aimed to conduct an experimental study of bullet holes on aluminium targets fired with 9 mm pistol ...

Stature estimation from foot impression plays a vital role in forensic investigation. The present... more Stature estimation from foot impression plays a vital role in forensic investigation. The present study aims to estimate stature from bilateral foot outlines collected from 240 consenting Bidayuhs (120 males, 120 females) residing in East Malaysia and to generate population-specific equations. Ten outline length measurements were taken viz. five from left and five from right foot. The results indicated high significant positive correlation between height and foot outline lengths. The correlation coefficient (R) in pooled sample (0.854-0.878) shows comparatively higher than those of individual male (0.755-0.779), and female foot outline (0.666-0.750). Linear regression analysis presents smaller error of estimate. Thus, regression equations were derived for stature estimation from foot outlines lengths among Bidayuhs of East Malaysia even when sex remains unknown.

Stature estimation is an important element in forensic investigation. Literature review shows tha... more Stature estimation is an important element in forensic investigation. Literature review shows that handprint anthropometry has provided useful information to estimate stature for identification purposes. Handprints form an important physical evidence frequently available in scenes of crime like burglary, homicide, sexual assault and firearm incidents. The aim of the present study is to derive linear regression equations to estimate stature from hand print anthropometry of Malaysian Chinese. The study sample consists of 100 males and 100 females of Malaysian Chinese, age ranged from 18 to 58 years. Stature and handprints were recorded following standard procedure. Five length measurements and one breadth measurement from each hand with a total of 12 measurements were taken from a subject. The right hand print measurement is larger than the left, showing the bilateral asymmetry but not significant. The result of the study provided population specific linear regression equations to est...

Crimes involving the use of firearms represent a significant area of forensic investigation. In l... more Crimes involving the use of firearms represent a significant area of forensic investigation. In legal proceedings of criminal events that involve the use of firearms and ammunitions, the expert forensic officer should be able to produce crucial information to the court. The existence of bullet holes is a significant aspect in crime scene reconstruction. It is a terminal ballistics study using various solid targets. The study is aimed to conduct an experimental firing study by using 9 mm pistol fired on selected solid targets viz. plywood, ceramic tiles, glass plate, aluminium metal sheet and PVC sheet and examined the damaged characteristics. The range of firing was fixed as 10m in all shooting exercises. The shooting exercise was conducted at Sungai Buloh shooting range by trained firearms experts, Polis Di Raja Malaysia, Bukit Aman. Kuala Lumpur. The result of the investigation showed that the angle of impact is below 90 degree in all the targets.

Scholars International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice

Forensic science works on physical evidence and hence the forensic investigators are searching fo... more Forensic science works on physical evidence and hence the forensic investigators are searching for physical evidence in the crime scenes to identify the perpetrator and to solve the mystery. The significance of some evidence appears unknown or unimportant at the time of collection from crime scenes but seemingly important as the investigation proceeds. Footprint is an important physical evidence found in many crime scenes such as homicide, burglary and sexual assault, but is simply ignored even in the initial stage of investigation, considering unimportant. Footprint based gait pattern analysis is currently used for person identification. Forensic podiatry is a sub discipline of forensic science in which specialized podiatric knowledge including foot and lower limb, used in the examination of foot-related evidence in the context of a criminal investigation. Footprint and gait analysis are most aligned with other pattern based form of evidence like blood pattern analysis. The gait pattern evidence found mostly in homicide and burglary Crime scenes are also simply neglected by the investigators because of knowledge Lack in podiatry science. The present crime scene report, as investigated by the corresponding author (Prof. T. Nataraja Moorthy, hereafter mention as "TN") in India highlighted the value of footprint and gait pattern evidence in a peculiar homicide crime scene. A woman lodged a complaint with police station in India that her husband was murdered by unknown person but footprint based gait pattern analysis identified the culprit, nobody but the complained wife. She murdered her husband and concealed the fact, a case of "crime concealment".

Saudi Journal of Engineering and Technology

Forensic crime scene investigators need to have the basic knowledge of science, engineering and m... more Forensic crime scene investigators need to have the basic knowledge of science, engineering and medicine fitted for legal or public argumentation. Only an experienced forensic crime scene investigator can handle such cases and to arrive a conclusion for the presentation in the legal system. Forensic engineering investigation is multidisciplinary process for investigating and reporting the cause of engineering problems which may have legal ramifications. Building collapse becomes a major threat to the society and people lost the confident on constructors and government. The professionals involved in the construction, viz. engineers, builders and contractors are under severe scrutiny about their role and responsibilities in the collapses. The municipal and corporation authorities have been approving for building constructions such as apartments, schools, colleges and many others. Irrespective of town or villages, construction industry, sometimes has been operating in a chaotic manner due to inadequate legislative building codes or violating building codes. The causes of building collapse ranges from substandard building materials to corruption. The present crime scene case study investigated a collapsed school building forensically the causes of elementary school building collapse, led to the death of 5 children and many sustained injuries, the incident occurred in India, as investigated by the author and identified the cause. The author presented his testimony in the court of law and Honourable Judge accepted the forensic findings and the case ended with conviction.

International Journal of Medical Toxicology & Legal Medicine

Forensic Science & Addiction Research