Comparison of Gurumukhi and Latin scripts in handwriting identification: A forensic perspective

Abstract

The present study has been carried out to study the possibility of handwriting comparison in cases where document under question is inscribed in different language and the available standards are in other language. The aspect is prevalent in the field of languages since people around the globe are being attracted to learn new languages, but their native language always has some impact on the next learned languages. Punjabi is the first language taught in the schools of Punjab and other languages afterward. Punjabi is the mother tongue of Punjab area and in contemporary times most of the population of Punjab leaning towards learning English language. For this study, 1200 samples in Punjabi and English from 100 individuals who studied English as well as Punjabi and using these languages on a daily basis were collected and analyzed. Class characteristics like alignment, slant, size, the arrangement of a piece of handwriting, connections, fluency line quality of handwriting along with the characters of letter form and formation were considered and the results were further analyzed statistically using Chi-square test. The results of the present study revealed the handwriting written in distinct scripts is similar and comparable with each other. Additionally, the study will help correlate a person’s handwriting with ethnicity, nationality, and region based on the characters present in the handwriting samples.