Bite-marks on battered children.

Instances of human bites are generally rare, although it does sometimes occur that people use their teeth as a means of attack of defence. When looking into cases of the ill-treatment of children we often find bite-marks in addition to other signs of abusement. Eleven cases from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Düsseldorf University are presented out of a total of 48 cases of ill-treatment of children followed by death in which human bite-marks as well as other haematomas on the victims could be proved. In all cases the cause of death was a subdural haematoma. All but three of the offenders were female, and all were young and subject to excess stress so that the act could eventually be regarded as the result of a disintegration of emotional status. The combination of bite-marks with haematomas and other signs of ill-treatment support with sufficient certainty the conclusion that a criminal action of a third person is involved.