of the defect appeared regular, and a few smaller circular
defects of size varying between 1 and 2 mm were seen surrounding
the larger defect. Other parts of the front of the chest and
abdomen did not show any such defects. The skin surrounding
the defects seemed similar to the skin over other parts of the
torso (Fig. 1C). The appearance of the defect raised the
speculations of a shotgun injury. The circular defect corresponded
to the lower part of the sternum. No bony injuries
were observed on the underlying sternum or ribs (Fig. 1D). Posterior
wall of the chest and abdomen was intact and no pellets
were recovered from the body. A few maggots were, however,
seen crawling inside the body. A careful examination of the
dried soft tissue attachments at the base of the skull that corresponded
to the upper neck region revealed a grooved obliquely
placed ligature mark measuring 24 · 1 cm. On internal examination
at autopsy, all the internal organs were found to be
disintegrated to such an extent, that it was by no means, feasible
to comment on the presence/absence of any fatal injury or
pathology.