Hand outlines: A New Dimension in Forensic Examination

Stature estimation is central dogma in Anthropo – forensic examinations. It aids in Personal identification of individuals. The purpose of this paper is to study hand outlines as an evidence to predict stature. The study was carried out at Udaipur district, Rajasthan. The samples were collected from males and females of Bhil – a schedule tribe within age groups ranged from 18 – 60 years. This study examines measurements taken from 204 adult subjects (91 male; 113 female). Various anthropometric measurements were used such as Stature, Right & Left Hand Length, Right & Left Hand Breadth, Right & Left Hand length from outlines, Right & Left Hand Breadth from outlines. The results were analyzed statistically using SPSS 20.0 software program. Statistical analysis revealed that sex differences were found to be significant for all measurements at p< 0.01 by Student’s t-test. Pearson’s correlation was found to be statistically significant between stature and all the variables for both males and females. Linear regression equations were calculated with a standard error of estimate (SEE) ranged from ±4.71 cm to ±5.32 cm for males and from ±4.61 cm to ± 5.80 cm for females. In terms of outlines SEE ranged from ±4.80 cm to ±5.32 cm for males and from ±4.84 cm to ±5.80 cm among females. It is evident from the study that measurements taken from hand outlines can better predict stature with a minimum error of estimate difference 0.52 among Bhil males and 0.96 among females. Thus, it was concluded that stature can be determined successfully using hand outline as a parameter. This will give a new perspective and dimension in the field of forensic anthropology and forensic Science by which the stature can be predicted. It was suggested that more studies are needed in this direction for future perspective.