Case Report: Medicolegal evaluation in a case of fatal scald where a child fell into a cauldron in rural Nepal

Abstract

Thermal injuries in young children involving the buttocks, perineum, and lower limbs raise suspicion of child abuse. Determining the manner of death and ruling out homicide in a fatal case of scalding remains a challenge for forensic practitioners. One such issue is reported in the present case report, where a medicolegal evaluation of a fatal scald in a two-year-old girl child is discussed. Young children sustaining serious injuries from scalds is a grave social concern. Such young lives need to be protected from scald injuries whether accidental or purposeful. Differences in injury patterns on the basis of their distribution and their characteristics are important to determine manner of death in such cases.