International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2013 1 ISSN 2250-3153 www.ijsrp.org Study of Lip Prints among the Population of Marathi Community Neeti Kapoor*, Prakash Tiwari** *. Assistant Professor, Institute of Forensic Science, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur MH, INDIA **. Department of Criminology and Forensic Science, Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar.MP INDIA Abstract: Lip print: The science under which lip prints study referred as Cheiloscopy. Establishing a person’s identity is a very important process in civil and criminal cases. . Lip prints help in personal identification and criminal investigation is very much important as his evidence would be very much useful in law and justice. Dental identification, fingerprint and DNA comparisons are probably the most common techniques used in this context, allowing fast and secure identification processes. However, since they cannot always be used, sometimes it is necessary to apply different and less known techniques. The pattern of wrinkles on the lips has individual characteristics as fingerprints. Although Lip Print identification may appear in the field literature there is very little science or research to support the theory that Lip Prints are individual, or to support a methodology, for the collection and comparison of Lip Prints, which has become accepted within the forensic community. Lip prints are unique and do not change during the life of a person. The external surface of lip has numerous elevations and depressions that form a characteristic pattern, referred to as lip prints, lip prints can be obtained at the crime scene from clothing, cups, glasses, cigarettes, windows and doors. Where identification is concerned, the mucosal area of the lip holds the most interest. This area, also called Klein’s zone, is covered with wrinkles and grooves that forms a characteristic pattern the lip print. The importance of Cheiloscopy is linked to the fact that lip prints are unique to one person, except in monozygotic twins. Like fingerprints and palatal rugae, lip grooves are permanent and unchangeable. It is possible to identify lip patterns as early as the sixth week of intra uterine life The research paper comprises study of 100 female lip prints and 100males lip prints of Marathi community. Prints are divided into 6 types such as branched, rectangular, long vertical, short vertical and diamond and prints of a person studies by dividing lips into four quadrant (A, B, C, and D). This study shows that lip prints are unique to an individual and behold the potential for recognition of the sex of an individual and shows percentage variation of different types of lip prints in male and female lip prints samples. This technique is helpful in sexual dimorphism on the basis of presence of different types of pattern. Index Terms: Cheiloscopy, Marathi community, Branched pattern I. INTRODUCTION ip prints are normal lines and fissures in the form of wrinkles and grooves present in the zone of transition of human lip, between the inner labial mucosa and outer skin, examination of which is known as Cheiloscopy. This is unique for individuals, as finger prints. Research studies and information regarding the use of lip prints as evidence in personal identification and criminal investigation in dentistry, although age old, are scanty. However, studying in depth and establishing further facts and truth in lip prints will certainly help as useful evidence in forensic identification of person. Lip prints are uniform throughout life and shows presence or absence of person at crime scene. Fischer in 1902 was the first anthropologist to describe the furrows on the red part of the human lips. However, it was only in 1932 that Edmond Locard, one of France's greatest criminologists, recommended the use of lip prints in personal identification and criminalization. In 1950, Synder reported in his book Homicide Investigation that the characteristics of the lips formed by lip grooves are as individually distinctive as the ridge characteristics of finger prints. Suzuki, in 1967, made detailed investigations of the measurement of the lips, the use and color of rouge, and the method for its extraction to obtain useful data for practical forensic application. Later in 1970, Suzuki and Tsuchihashi, conducted a study on 107 Japanese families and named the grooves on labiorum rurorum as sulci labiorum and the lip prints consisting of these grooves as ' Figura linearum labiorum rubrorum '. Mc Donell in 1972 conducted a study on lip prints between two identical twins and reported that two identical twins seemed to be indistinguishable by every other means but their lip prints were different .Cottone, in 1981, reported in his book Outline of Forensic Dentistry, that Cheiloscopy is one of the special techniques used for personal identification. In 1990, Kasprzak conducted a research for period of five years on 1500 persons to elaborate the practical use of Cheiloscopy. Recently, Vahanwala in 2000 conducted a study of lip patterns to promote the importance of Cheiloscopy in forensic science identification. Suzuki’s and Tsuchihashi considered five different types of grooves: L