Lip-print Patterns in Assamese Community and Assessment of Their Reliability in Sex Determination

Identification is the determination of the individuality of a person and plays a significant role in medico-legal cases. Among the various methods of identification, fingerprints, lip prints, and palatal rugae patterns hold special importance in establishing human identity in both living and deceased individuals. The present study was conducted to analyze the lip-print patterns of 100 deceased Assamese individuals, comprising 50 males and 50 females, aged between 21 and 78 years, with the objective of studying the arrangement of different lip-print patterns. Cheiloscopy, the study of lip prints, has long been used as a method of identification; this study aims to explore the possible relationship between specific lip-print patterns and sex determination. Lip prints were collected from the dead bodies and examined for uniqueness with the aid of a magnifying lens. The patterns were classified and analyzed statistically. In males, Type IV lip-print pattern was the most predominant (36%), followed by Type III (30%), Type II (16%), Type I′ (12%), and Type I (6%). In females, Type I′ was the most common pattern (46%), followed by Type I (24%), Type II (12%), Type IV (10%), and Type III (8%). Statistical analysis was carried out using mean standard deviation Chi Square test, Students Unpaired T test, and Cohen’s Kappa Test (Cohen’s Kappa = 0.48, p = < .001) The study revealed that Type IV lip-print pattern predominated in males, whereas Type I′ was predominant in females. These findings suggest that lip-print analysis can be a useful tool in the sex determination of unknown individuals in medico-legal investigations.