KARACHI, Feb 10: Medico-legal officers play a key role in criminal investigations, but MLOs are not properly trained in investigation techniques, both medical and forensic, and hence do not perform their jobs adequately, a Dawn survey shows.
Prof Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat, a professor at Karachi University’s department of criminology, sociology and population sciences, and a qualified criminologist, told this reporter that in his experience MLOs had hardly any training for their jobs.
“Most of them are medical doctors,” he said, “and just become MLOs when they have gained some experience and seniority. It is not from training, they learn from trial and error.”
Prof Burfat said that at present, out of a class of about 50 students for the KU’s two-year master’s programme in criminology, there were two or three MLOs. He said that while the programme did not specifically cater to MLOs, its courses covered the material that they should know to do their jobs effectively. “This includes courses on the criminal justice system, forensic science, psychology, investigation techniques, evidence collection and policing,” he added.
Dr Afzal Raja Memon, an MLO at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, agreed with Prof Burfat, and said there was a need for advanced forensic training in the field.
“We do not get any specific training, though we do take a course in jurisprudence when we are graduating. Refresher courses are held from time to time, but these are very rare. Forensics has become very advanced, but here everything is done very superficially,” said Dr Memon, adding that there was a “need for expertise” in the field. He said most MLOs learnt the basics from experience.
Nature of injuries
In shooting and assault cases, for example, Prof Burfat said the MLOs must ascertain what type of weapon was used, what range it was fired from and how long ago the shooting had occurred (in cases of fatal crimes). They must also be able to tell the difference between self-inflicted wounds and those inflicted by someone else, he said.
Dr Nisar Ali Shah, an MLO at the Civil Hospital Karachi, said the city’s medico-legal officers could ascertain each of these things.
“In shooting and assault cases,” said Dr Shah, “the nature of the injuries is clear and obvious, and we can tell the difference between self-inflicted wounds and those inflicted by someone else. Circumstantial evidence, gathered by the police from witnesses, is also very important in this.”
Dr Shah said the anatomical position of the wound indicated whether it had been inflicted upon the person by a second party.
Dr Memon said clinical findings and examination of the clothes for bullet/weapon holes was also useful in this regard.
“If the wound is self-inflicted,” said Dr Memon, “the right-handed man will always hurt himself on his left, so we look at the kind of injury and its location.
“His injury will tend to be superficial, and not very deep. In case of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, most people shoot themselves in the thigh, bicep or calf. A heavy man may also shoot himself in the abdomen.” Dr Memon said there was usually no injury to the bone in self-inflicted wounds.
But in shooting and assault cases, the MLOs no longer recorded whether they believed the injury was self-inflicted, as “the matter is sometimes contested in court. Now we just record the signs, symptoms and description of the wounds,” said Dr Shah.
Tracing ‘bullet tracks’
“As far as range is concerned in shooting cases, the MLOs will look for signs of blackening, charring and burns on the skin. If present, this indicates that the shot is fired from a close range, probably from less than a three-foot distance,” said Dr Shah.
“We look at both the entry and exit wounds, and if we don’t find the exit wound, we will search for the bullet in the body,” said Dr Shah. “The entry wound of a bullet is always smaller than the exit wound, as the bullet revolves when it exits,” he says. The entry wound is a “penetration wound”, while the exit one is a “puncture” wound. Dr Memon added that if the bullet was fired from a long range, it was likely to be found inside the victim’s body.
“We also trace the ‘track’ of the bullet to confirm that a shooting has occurred. If no track exists, then the bullet was planted into the wound,” said Dr Shah.
Both MLOs, however, said they could not ascertain the exact type of gun used in the shooting. “We cannot tell what gun is used, but we can tell the type, whether it is a pistol, rifle or pellet gun,” says Dr Memon. As pellets are low-velocity projectiles, and bullets of high velocity, MLOs are usually able to differentiate between the two types of wounds.
“A rifle has a bigger wound,” says Dr Shah, adding that ascertaining what weapon was used was the weapons expert’s job. Consequently, MLOs do not usually note what kind of weapon they believe was used in the shooting. They also do not gauge the type of bullet recovered, and simply seal it and hand it over to the police to be given to a ballistics expert.
Prof Burfat, the criminologist, however, said: “The MLOs should be trained to find what kind of weapon is used, and they are not.”
In cases of assault where a weapon other than a gun is used, such as a wrench, knife or heavy object, MLOs said they could tell whether a sharp or blunt object was used, but could not give specifics.
“A hard, blunt object tends to inflict lacerative wounds, with irregular edges,” says Dr Memon. “Wounds from sharp weapons have straight, sharp margins.” Dr Shah added that sharp weapons would not cause bone damage, while blunt objects might break the victim’s bones.
Procedure on bodies
For bodies brought into the medico-legal section for formalities, the MLOs are called upon to estimate the time of death of the victim.
“The time of death estimate depends on the onset of rigor mortis [a phenomenon whereby the human body becomes rigid after death]. Rigor mortis sets in six to eight hours after death, but takes a longer time in winter. We look at the level of decomposition of the body as well as maceration [how much the skin peels off when pinched],” said Dr Shah.
Dr Memon said the MLO would also look for the presence of maggots, and would use the smell of the body to aid in making an assessment of the time of death.
For unidentified bodies, the MLOs is called upon to make an age estimate for the victim. “We look at them, and based on the outlook of the body, we estimate an age,” said Dr Memon.
Dr Shah added that to ascertain whether the body belonged to a minor, the MLO would look at “the mandible, the ossification of joints, and the position of the molar (wisdom) teeth.”
During the post-mortem of a shooting/assault victim, the doctors will do an internal and external examination. The entry and exit wounds are located if a gun is used, and the bullet is located using X-rays if no exit wound is found. The bullet track is also checked, to see if the shooting “was aimed at the vital organs, the brain, heart and lungs,” said Dr Shah.
“For slit throats, the MLO will note whether decapitation has occurred, and the cross-sectional area of severed organs is noted. If the victim is decapitated, the head will be sewed back on,” said Dr Shah.
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