International Journal of Forensic Science

Organophosphorous are the chemical compounds that are widely used as pesticides/insecticides for agricultural purposes. Due to its easy availability in India, it is misused for homicidal or suicidal purposes. Instrumental methods such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) etc. are reported in literature for determination of organophosphorous in biological material. Although these instrumental techniques are sensitive, there are limitation to their use in routine forensic toxicology. Therefore, thin layer chromatography (TLC) is the method of choice for the screening of biological samples for organophosphorous pesticides due to its speed, low cost and versatility. In this paper an attempt has been made for detection of organophosphorous compound (dimethoate) in gastric lavage. Organophosphorous compound (dimethoate) was isolated from the gastric lavage by using liquid- liquid extraction method and detected by TLC using bromophenol blue as a spraying reagents [1,2].

Keyword: TLC; Organophosphorus; Pesticides.

Burning of documents is one of the methods used by the perpetrators to destroy the evidence. Three decades before, liquid inks of different colours were used for writing the documents, therefore, according to that the techniques were developed for deciphering the written matter on charred/burned documents written with these inks. Now, the liquid inks have been replaced by either viscous inks or gel based inks, which are used in ball point pens and gel pens respectively. Accordingly, present study has been undertaken to decipher the ball point pen writings on the papers charred at six different temperatures viz. 210ºC, 220ºC, 230ºC, 240ºC, 250ºC, 270ºC. The study involves the use of ammonia solution for deciphering the writing on the experimentally charred documents.

Keywords: Charred/Burnt Documents; Decipherment; Ammonia Solution; Forensic Document Examination.

The aim of the study was to determine to which extent numerals can be disguised when an individual tries to attempt disguise in order to conceal their identity. For this purpose, 100 samples having both normal and disguised handwriting of an individual between the age 18-30 years were collected. The samples were studied thoroughly to examine the class characteristics. Also, different formations and individual characteristics of numerals were analysed using Visualizer and Clear Scanner App. The findings suggested that the numeral which is most disguised within the population is numeral '3' and the least disguised numeral is ‘0’. Also, the most disguised percentage among the population was 30% which indicates that out of 10 numerals people usually disguise 3 of the numerals.

Keywords: Handwriting; Disguise handwriting; Individual characteristic; Numerals

Formation of letters, characters or symbols using writing implements according to a recognizable pattern which is designed to communicate with another person can be called as handwriting. A person learns to write by copying shapes from standard copybook. However, handwriting differs from one individual to another as it is an acquired skill due to individual’s neuromuscular coordination and visual perception; therefore, it is habitual as well as individualized. The pictorial appearance of the writing can change from childhood till adolescence, but the individuality will not change as handwriting is a continuous learning process. This individualization is the basic principle in the document examination. However, at times it may be noticed that some people’s handwriting has a similar style and characteristics in common, acquired when these people learn to write by copying letters and words, and tend to take on individual styles with age. But sometimes it may happen that these individual characteristics are also copied often knowingly or unknowingly. Various factors may play hand in this this such as gender and age. In this article we discuss about the comparison of the class characteristics and individual characteristics of friends/acquaintances that are aware of each other’s handwriting and analyze whether their imitation is restricted to class characteristics making the pictorial appearance similar or does the individual characteristics are also copied and ingrained into their personal writing habits based on the gender of the person.

Keywords: Handwriting; Class characteristics; Individual characteristic; Gender.