Abstract
Abstract
Background
Mankind have suffered several unexpected disasters, heinous crimes, and brutalities, resulting into large number of unknown skeletal remains to be identified and repatriated to their relatives.
Case presentation
One such incident of mass killing of 282 Indian-origin soldiers by the colonial rulers in 1857 was reported from Ajnala (India) in early 2014. The damaged cranial fragments belonging to two individuals were retrieved from the vicinity of Ajnala mass-burial site later in 2014. In present study, the retrieved cranial elements were examined forensic anthropologically to assess whether their affinity is akin to the slain Ajnala sepoys or to the deceased who were buried prior to or later than it. The morphological and molecular analyses of these remains affirmed their affiliation to the mutiny sepoys of 1857 killed at Ajnala.
Conclusions
The forensic anthropological and molecular examinations of cranial fragments found that these remains belonged to the individuals killed in the Ajnala incident. The multidisciplinary approach applied for identification of the badly damaged, fragmented, and commingled human remains helped in their presumptive identification.
Funder
Science and Engineering Research Board New Delhi
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Law,Health (social science),Pathology and Forensic Medicine