European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Abstract: Background: A Medico-legal case [MLC] is defined as “any case of injury or hurt, which the attending medical officer after complete history taking and examination, considers investigation by the law enforcement agencies necessary, in order to fix responsibility regarding the related injury in accordance with the prevailing laws of the country.” The objective of medico-legal autopsy is to establish the identity of a body, when not known; to find out the cause of death, time since death, nature and manner of death, whether it was homicidal, suicidal or accidental. In addition, the question of live birth and viability assumes the importance in case of infant deaths. Material and Methods: The present study is a retrospective study of medicolegal autopsies performed at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Jaipur, India. from period of January 2021 to September 2023. The total no. of medico-legal autopsies performed During the study period were 538. Ethical clearance for this study was obtained by the Institutional Ethical Committee. The identities of the deceased persons whose data was obtained from the medical records has not been revealed in any of the documents related to the study. Results: The distribution of cases with respect to different age group. The most vulnerable study group with respect to all type cases is 21 to 30 years age group, especially the hanging, road traffic accident & railway accident having 69, 38 and 32 cases respectively, are highest in this age group, followed by 31 to 40 and 41 to 50 years age group. The overall most common cause being hanging (131 cases) road traffic accident (112 cases) & railway accident (77 cases). Least number of cases recorded in age group of less than 10 years, with road traffic accident having highest 6 cases. Conclusion: While Road Traffic Accidents seemingly associated with increased vehicular speed, rare use of helmets and seat belts, along with drunken driving, substance abuse, driving while having mental stress and divided lost attention etc.