BHUBANESWAR: Forensic experts have called for exploring all angle including crime or foul play while dealing with snakebite cases or deaths.
They have proposed a new forensic guideline ‘Rule of Two’ to probe snakebite related deaths. The move has come in consideration of increasing incidents of murder or attempted murder using venomous snakes as the weapon of crime.
The experts from the department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, and Snake Helpline in their paper “Weaponizing snakes: A forensic investigation into homicides using venomous snakes- A review article” published in Indian Journal of Forensic and Community Medicine have urged forensic pathologists to sharpen their vigil in snakebite deaths.
The group comprising Manoj Kumar Mohanty, Manas Ranjan Sahu, Sudipta Ranjan Singh, Sindhu Sudha Sahu, Rajanikanta Swain and Subhendu Mallik has proposed the ‘Rule of Two’, not as a definitive formula but on that can aid detailed inquiry. As per the rule, when two or more individuals suffer snakebite in a single incident, it is highly unusual in natural circumstances and suggests coordinated or staged attack. Similarly, if there are two or more pairs of fang marks on an individual, it most often implies the snake was held or manipulated to bite multiple times.
Another case could be two or more successive bites on one victim within a short time interval or linked incidents in close sequence. The repeated attempts here indicate intent to ensure lethality and suggests planning, especially if one attempt failed and another followed.
Citing examples, the group underlined that a man in Kerala succeeded in killing his wife on the second attempt using a common cobra. The 27-year-old accused was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Similarly, a man in Odisha also orchestrated the death of his wife and daughter using a monocled cobra to fraudulently claim `8 lakh in ex gratia government compensation. Probe revealed that the accused procured the snake from charmer and used it for the crime.
The experts said venomous snakes bite humans only when provoked. Even then a significant percentage of bites are dry meaning no venom is injected as snakes don’t consider humans as their prey and conserve venom. The team has also suggested that involvement of a herpetological expert is critical for correlating the behavioral patterns and ecological characteristics of the snake with the circumstances of the incident, which may help determine whether human manipulation was involved.