Photographic Superimposition Towards Identification of a Victim: A Forensic Case Report

In forensic practice, "Identification", is a major concern. This process involves the identification of both victim and the wrongdoer. Identification of the victim is important for reasons such as, obtaining a death certificate, legal disposal of the body and as part of the investigatory process of solving a crime. In addition, identification of the victim often leads to identification of the wrongdoer. Identification of a dead victim is not difficult when external features are intact, especially, the facial features. However with time, due to degradation or as a result of deliberate effect of crime, definitive features of identification of a victim get distorted. In such situations other scientific methods are employed to establish identity. While DNA technology being the method of choice at present, due to high costs incurred, it is not possible to use this technique to all routine cases. In this presentation a case study is illustrated to recognize the technique of photographic superimposition as a method of identification.