International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 100 Vol.9; Issue: 10; October 2019 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Original Research Article Observational Study to Estimate Time since Death on the Basis of Post-Mortem Staining, Rigor Mortis, Ocular and Putrefaction Changes in Dead Body Saroj Kumar Ranjan 1 , Pinki Kumari 1 , Aman Kumar 2 , Sanjeev Kumar 3 , Bindu Kumari 4 1 Senior Resident, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, IGIMS, Patna 2 Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, IGIMS, Patna 3 Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, IGIMS, Patna 4 Intern, Kurji Holy Family Hospital, Patna Corresponding Author: Pinki Kumari ABSTRACT Introduction: Estimation of time since death is an integral part of medicolegal investigations. Postmortem lividity is a bluish or reddish-purple discoloration due to capillo-venous distension with blood, at the undersurface of the skin of the dependant parts of the body. Rigor mortis is a post- mortem change which leads to stiffening of the body muscles because of chemical changes in the myofibrils. Putrefaction is degradation of tissue by microorganism activity, such as bacteria, fungi and protozoa. We have planned the observational study to estimate time since death by assessing various changes in dead body such as Postmortem staining, Rigor mortis and Putrefaction. Materials and Methods: This was prospective & observational study conducted on 140 dead bodies brought for post-mortem examination at IGIMS mortuary covering the central Patna area from September 2016 to March 2018. Results: Post-mortem staining was well developed and fixed in all cases between 6 hours to 24 hours after death. All cases examined between 3 hours to 24 hours after death rigor mortis was found to present in almost whole body. Putrefaction colour changes were found after 24 hours to 36 hours in iliac fossae as green in 83.33% cases while after 36 hours the whole body was greenish black in 100% cases. Conclusion: Present study concluded that Post-mortem staining, Rigor mortis, Ocular and Putrefaction changes in dead bodies are very important to estimate time since death and should be accurately noted in all medico legal cases. Key words- Dead body, Post-mortem staining, Rigor mortis, Putrefaction changes INTRODUCTION Estimation of time since death is an integral part of medicolegal investigations. Post- mortem Interval is defined as „amount of time that has elapsed since the death of the decedent‟. The key goal of estimating time since death at the scene of crime is to have a preliminary idea of the time of assault and for narrowing the field of suspects. [1] Various methods have been tried to find out the time of death. These include study of physical, chemical, biochemical, histological and enzymatic changes which occur progressively in a dead body. Postmortem lividity is one of the physical changes useful for estimating time of death to a certain degree of accuracy.