UNUSUAL DEATH BY HANGING IN AN AGRICULTURAL WELL: HOMICIDE OR SUICIDE?

Background: Death scene investigations, particularly hanging cases, confuse the police officer to conclude.Sometimes, the circumstances raise a reasonable suspicion that some other person has committed an offence.Gist of the case: A village boy aged 21 years was found hanging inside an agricultural land.It was alleged that somebody had murdered the youth and hanged the body in the inner wall of the well.The Police Inspector arrived and registered under "suspicious death" and forensic service was requisitioned to examine the peculiar type of hanging incident.Crime Scene Observation: The body was removed after documentation and examined by the field criminalist.No struggling marks in the well area, nor external injuries on the body of the deceased were noticed.The deceased neck showed a twisted coconut fibre rope with a non-continuous ligature mark.Conclusion: Based on the crime scene examination and findings, suggested the possibility of suicidal hanging only.