Bisection of a Female Foetus: A Forensic Insight Into the Core Conclusions and Residual Constraints in Medicolegal Evaluation

Abstract

Forensic investigations in newborn deaths pose significant methodological and diagnostic challenges due to the fragility of the subject and subtlety of the postmortem findings. The investigative burden is further augmented when the remains are mutilated, and vital organs are absent owing to attempts at concealing the birth. In order to establish corpus delicti in such cases, identification of the foetus, assessing its viability and determining whether it was a live birth or not are imperative. The determination of live birth is particularly elusive because the conventional methods of estimating live birth analyse organs of the upper torso or intact viscera exclusively. In situations when only the lower torso is available and where viscera have been destroyed by scavenging activity or putrefaction, estimating live birth is inconceivable. Scholarly works on this topic are also notably sparse, thus leaving a significant lacuna in the existing works of literature. We report a case of a bisected female foetus recovered from an open vegetation, of which only the lower torso and lower extremities were found, with an anthropogenic sharp-force transection at the thoracic level superimposed by postmortem faunal scavenging. Gender and period of viability could be established from the available evidence, but the absence of the upper half of the body, including all vital organs, along with putrefactive changes, posed a serious constraint in evaluating live birth. The unavailability of the usual determinants of livebirth hindered the unravelling of the complete truth. Hence, there is a need for further scientific exploration to overcome these limitations. Future studies should fruitfully explore this issue, as further inquiry into this area is warranted for a more comprehensive understanding. Documenting these extreme methods of disposal is crucial to addressing the tragic reality of gender-biased foeticide.

Keywords: dismemberment; female foeticide; foetal viability; infanticide; live birth; postmortem scavenging; taphonomy.