HOMICIDAL DEATHS BY FIREARMS IN PESHAWAR: AN AUTOPSY STUDY
Abstract
Background: Medico legal autopsies can be valuable sources of information about thedistribution of causes of reported deaths, particularly in homicidal cases. The present studyprovides information regarding the homicidal deaths due to firearm injuries in the district ofPeshawar, NWFP, Pakistan. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted over the periodof the year 2004. Data were collected from the autopsy records of the Department of ForensicMedicine, Khyber Medical College Peshawar and included all reported unnatural deaths fromurban and rural areas of district Peshawar on whom autopsies were conducted in the department.Results: Homicidal deaths constituted 77.7% (492/633) of all autopsies for the year 2004. Of 492homicidal deaths, a vast majority of 452 (91.87%) were caused by firearm injuries. Among these,the male to female ratio was 5.5:1. The most common firearm weapon (418/452, 92.5%) werehigh velocity rifled weapons (Kalashnikov, rifles, pistols), followed by low velocity rifledweapons (18/452, 3.98%) and shotguns (16/452, 3.54%). A total of 956 injuries were found invarious body areas, giving an average of over two injuries per person. The head, face and necksustained the highest injuries (257, 26.9%), followed by the chest (248, 25.9%) and abdomen(149, 15.6%); the extremities, buttocks and genitalia together sustained 302 (31.6%) injuries.Conclusion: The vast majority of reported homicides in Peshawar are caused by firearm injuries,which bring up issues related to possession of firearms and changes in cultural attitudes towardsuse of firearms, if a decrease in firearm-related homicides is desired.Key Words: Firearms, Homicide, Autopsy.References
Wintemete CJ, Teret SP, Kraus JF, Wright MW. The choice
of firearm suicide. Am J Public Health 1989; 79:824-6.
Fateh A. Gunshot wounds in forensic pathology, 11th edition,
Philadelphia: J.B.Lippincott Co., 1973. p.79.
Chapman J, Milroy CM. Firearm deaths in Yorkshire and
Humberside. Forensic Science International Dec 1992;
(2):181-91.
Khalil ZH. Regional distribution and variable patterns of
firearm injuries in Peshawar (FCPS Dissertation), CPSP
Karachi 2001.
Ahmet H, Nemci C, Mete G Hakan OM, Ramazan K.
Homicide in Adana, Turkey: A 5-year review. Am J For Med
Path June 2005;26(2):141-5.
Memon MU, Khalil ZH, Aziz K, Kaheri GQ, Khalil IR.
Audit of Cases Autopsied in the Mortuary of Khyber Medical
College Peshawar during the year 1999. Ann King Edward
Med Coll Sep 2001;7(3):190-3.
Forest DE, Ganesslen ER, Lee CH. Tool marks and firearm.
In: Forensic Sciences: An introduction to criminalistics, 1st
edition, New York: McGraw Hill 1983. p. 383-412.
Mian AR, Majid A, Malik MM, Zaheer M, Goraya SU.
Analysis of unnatural Death in Rawalpindi during 1997. Pak
Armed Forces Med J Jun 1999; 49(1):68-70.
Sahito MM, Mughal MI, Chang F, Shah SMH, Pirzada SG,
Jamali YA et al. Causes of death in interior Sindh - A
medicolegal autopies study. Pakistan Postgrad Med J Dec
;13(4):161-4.
Qadir G, Aziz K. The study of homicides in Larkana.
Pakistan Postgraduate Med J 2000; 11(2):79-80.
Aziz K, Rana P, Malik SA. Homicide in Lahore. Pakistan
Postgraduate Med J 1999; 10(1):10-3.
Ali SMA, Bashir MZ, Hussain Z, Abidin Z, Kaheri GQ,
Khalil IR. Unnatural female deaths in Peshawar. JCPSP
;13(4):198-200.
Bashir MZ, Saeed A, Khan D, Aslam M, Iqbal J, Ahmed M.
Pattern of homicidal deaths in Faisalabad. J Ayub Med Coll
Abbottabad 2004;16(2):1-3.
Sultana K. Causes of death ascertained through Postmortem
Examination: Results from one-year data of postmortems at
Abbassi Shaheed Hospital. Ann Abbasi Shaheed Hosp
Karachi Med Dent Coll Mar 2002; 7:263-5.
Hassan Q, Shah MM, Bashir MZ. Homicide in Abbottabad. J
Ayub Med Coll Abottabad Mar 2005;17(1):78-80.
Bashir Z, Rana PA, Malik SA, Shaheen A. Pattern of Deaths
due to firearms in Lahore - A twelve-year study. Pakistan
Postgrad Med J Sep 2000;11(3):109-14.
Fateh A. Medicolegal investigations of gunshot wounds, 1st
edition, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co. 1976. p. 2-158.
Bashir MZ, Malik AR, Rana PA, Malik SA, Shaheen MA,
Khokhar JI et al. Firearm Related Deaths in Lahore: A Need
for Efficient Emergency Services. Ann King Edward Med
Coll Jun 2001;7(2):102-5.
Cukier W. Firearm regulations; Canada in the international
context. Chronic Dis Can 1998;19(1):25-34.
Issue
Section
License
Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.
USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.
