Hyderabad: The shoulder joint can be key evidence in rape cases. An ossification test on the shoulder joint can establish the age of people involved in crimes like rapes.
A recent study conducted by forensic experts revealed that ossification of the shoulder joint is completed between 17 and 18, and it was progressive in both males and females.
Ossification test is vital in if there is a dispute about the age of the suspect and the victim.The study which was published in February analysed 90 persons, both male and female, in the age group of 14 to 18 in and around Hyderabad.
“X-rays of the right shoulder joint was taken in the anterior posterior angle. Observations regarding the degree of epiphyseal union were recorded for each subject and compared with age,” the study said.
Forensic medicine experts say that ossification is the most reliable test now. But this test cannot give the exact age of the person.“However, we can estimate the age within one or two years. But it becomes difficult to identify the age of the person if he is more than 20,”
Dr R. Sudha, assistant professor of forensic medicine at the Osmania Medical College said. Though this test is vital in establishing age, other factors like circumstantial evidence and eyewitnesses count in cases of rape, murder and kidnap.
Orthopaedic specialists state that shoulder joint analysis is crucial although they can analyse the wrist and elbow joints to establish the age of a person. “This is useful when persons involved in a crime plead for lenience citing age,” an orthopaedic surgeon from a private hospital said.
