Burnt Wives of Agartala: A Retrospective Study From Medico Legal Autopsies of A Tertiary Hospital of Tripura, Northeast India

Introduction: High mortality in young married women from burns is an alarming problem in our country. Materials and Methods: All medico-legal autopsies of burn cases of married women which were performed between January 2014 and June 2015 were analyzed with respect to age, religion, community and region distribution, years of marriage, educational status, inflammable substance used, body surface area which was involved, the cause of death and manner of death.

Results: The maximum number of the victims (37.96%) belonged to the age group of 21 to 30 years. Majority of the victims were Hindus (70.37%).Most of them were non-tribal women (81.94%). 73.14% hailed from rural areas. Most of the victims (57.40%) were within 7 years of marriage. A majority of the victims were illiterate (45.37%). Kerosene oil was used in majority of cases (99.53%). Most of the incident took place in kitchen (83.33%). In 75.46 % cases, more than 80% of the body surface area was involved.  Shock was the cause of majority of deaths (65.74%), followed by Septicaemia (28.7%). The manner of death in 81.94% cases was suicidal followed by accidental (16.2%) and homicidal (1.85%).

Discussion: Present study is in accordance with other studies where age group of 21-30 years are mostly affected. Hindus are the majority and kerosene oil burns are common. 

Conclusion: Education regarding fire safety and awareness discouraging dowry demands should be instilled amongst the common mass. Dedicated burn units should be made functioning with detection and treatment of infections to reduce mortality.

Keywords:  burn death, medico-legal autopsy, kerosene oil, shock.