In South Africa, the high rate of violent deaths, the lack of proper identification
documents, and internal migration within the country stemming from the previous
socio-political dispensation of society, has led to a high incidence of unidentified human
bodies being found, a large proportion of which are skeletal remains, mainly of indigent
Black persons. The low incidence of dental records, especially in disadvantaged, rural
populations adds to the failure of identification. Without positive identification of
individuals, an inquest or criminal case cannot succeed. In routine post mortem
practice, only broad groupings of identity are recorded before disposal of remains. The
basic rights of these deceased individuals to be properly identified with regards to police
investigations and other legal, religious and cultural requirements are disregarded.
Further, a large number of persons are reported missing on a daily basis in the country,
some never to be found. This study suggests that national legislation be developed to
allow for the administration of affairs in respect of missing persons and unidentified
bodies, with regulations under this to provide for the mandatory preservation and
storage of all medical and radiological records, a national policy and a national plan of
action be established to deal with the burden of missing persons and found bodies, and
the establishment of a central database of records of unidentified bodies and missing
persons. The study also reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available human
identification techniques that can be used to facilitate the identification of bodies, and
by use of a case report, proposes to demonstrate to the South African Courts that frontal
sinus radiographic identification comprises a useful, rapid and inexpensive method as
an application in forensic science that can be compared to the individuality of
fingerprints, and serves as a reliable additional method in establishing human identity. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/5303 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Naidoo, Poonithavathi. |
| Contributors | McQuoid-Mason, David Jan. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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