A Prospective Study of Executive Magistrate Inquest Cases at Gmkmch-Salem

Background: Executive magistrate’s inquest 176(1), CrPC refers to inquest held by an executive magistrate. Executive magistrates inquests held in cases of (i) Suicide of a woman within 7 years of marriage. (ii) Death of a woman with in seven years of marriage in any circumstances raising a suspicion that some other person has committed an offence in relation to such woman(homicide etc), (iii) Exhumation. 

Objectives: To perform a study on the pattern of unnatural deaths in married woman within seven years of marriage. To evaluate the socio- demographic profile of dowry victims. To identify the risk group. To analyse the socio etiological factors involved and suggest preventive measures.

Materials And Methods: This was a cross sectional study done in a Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital, during the period of 1 year (July 2022 to June 2023). All the executive magistrate cases autopsied at GMKMCH were studied. Official permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Institutional human ethics committee. Data entry was done in EXCEL and analysis was done using SPSS Software. Appropriate descriptive statistics were used.

Results: Among the 99 cases, the mean (SD) age was 24 (6) years, with most women (72.7%) aged 20–29 years. The mean (SD) duration of marriage was 3 (1) years, and 74.7% had been married for 0–3 years. Most participants were housewives (80.8%), belonged to rural areas (64.6%), lived in nuclear families (82.8%), identified as Hindus (92.9%), and belonged to the lower socioeconomic class (76.8%). Hanging (45.5%) was the leading cause of death, followed by poisoning (29.3%), and the majority of deaths were suicides (83.8%). Dowry-related issues (28.3%) and domestic violence (23.2%) were the most common contributing factors, followed by economic crises, psychiatric illnesses, and love failures. Most deaths related to dowry, domestic violence, and psychiatric illnesses were suicides, while the only homicide was associated with love failure. Most deaths occurred within the first three years of marriage, particularly among women facing dowry-related issues, domestic violence, and economic difficulties.

Conclusion: The study concluded that most of the victims belong to 20-29 years of age and has been married for 0-3 years. Most had high school education, belonging to lower class socio economic status and are housewives and most died of hanging, followed by poison intake. Most of the deaths were suicide and most were brought dead. Most were menstruating. Most of them were Hindu, belong to nuclear family and resided in rural area. Most viscera reports were negative. Most common provoking factor was dowry, followed by domestic violence. The dowry issues, domestic abuse, psychiatry illness resulted in suicide.