Human Variation and Identification Research Unit, School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
Department of Forensic Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
J Forensic Sci. 2021 Mar;66(2):766-774. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.14619. Epub 2020 Nov 17.
South Africa is a country overwhelmed by crime and violence, with very high incidences of abuse against women and children. It is not often that a case of intimate partner homicide is seen in a forensic anthropological context. Here, we report on such a case where the remains of the victim had been buried for some time. The victim was a middle-aged female, while the suspect was a younger adult male. The deceased had suffered massive, repeated trauma during her lifetime with healed fractures and evidence of soft tissue trauma to virtually all parts of her body. A partly healed rib fracture indicates that the abuse continued until shortly before her death. She ultimately succumbed after suffering trauma to her head and face after reportedly being hit by a brick, evidence of which can be seen as perimortem fractures of the face. It is important for forensic anthropologists to identify specific patterns and report on the presence of healed fractures, as they can raise suspicion as to the possibility of chronic abuse. In this case, the evidence suggests a very long period of extreme and repeated trauma, which were apparently not reported or noticed by family members or the medical fraternity.
南非是一个犯罪和暴力肆虐的国家，针对妇女和儿童的虐待行为发生率非常高。在法医人类学的背景下，很少见到亲密伴侣杀人案。在这里，我们报告了这样一个案例，受害者的遗体已经被埋葬了一段时间。受害者是一名中年女性，而嫌疑人是一名年轻的成年男性。死者生前遭受了多次严重的创伤，骨折已愈合，身体几乎所有部位都有软组织创伤的证据。一根部分愈合的肋骨骨折表明，在她死亡前不久，虐待仍在继续。她最终头部和面部受到创伤后死亡，据报告，她头部被一块砖头击中，面部的濒死期骨折就是证据。法医人类学家识别特定模式并报告愈合骨折的存在非常重要，因为这可能会引起对慢性虐待的怀疑。在这种情况下，证据表明存在很长一段时间的极端和反复的创伤，这些创伤显然没有被家庭成员或医学界注意到或报告。
