Abstract :
Death is an inevitable truth and is defined as the permanent and irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain life. In India, an inquest is conducted in unnatural or suspected deaths by either the police or a magistrate under Sections 194 and 196 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023 respectively replacing the earlier Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) 1973. The dead body is subsequently sent for a medicolegal autopsy where the forensic pathologist, after conducting both external and internal examinations provides an opinion regarding the cause of death, time since death, manner and mode of death, and identification of the individual thereby aiding the law investigation agencies to render justice for the victim. However, in certain cases where findings are minimal or obscured, forensic pathologists may send viscera for chemical analysis to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to detect any poisons or toxins, helping in determining the cause of death. Dependance solely on viscera reports can weaken the doctor's integrity in situations when minute details observed during autopsy are ignored. This case report presents a false and erroneous detection of malathion in the viscera of a victim who succumbed to death resulting from subdural hematoma from a fall from a motorcycle.
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