Ligature Strangulation with a Plant Vine: A Rare and Unusual Case

Ligature strangulation happens when anything external, other than the weight of the body, is wrapped around the neck to compress it. The frequently used tools for such asphyxiation are rope, cord, wires, scarf, ties, towels, chains, stockings bed linen, etc., As per police inquest, a 30-year-old male was found lying over a railway track in an unresponsive and unconscious state. External findings showed the presence of marked congestion of the face and eyes; internally, extravasation of blood in the soft tissue of the neck including the muscles and left greater cornu of the hyoid bone. The death scene also showed a dead body being found on the railway track with ligature material by the side of the body. For the medicolegal death investigator, more importantly, when homicide strangulation is the cause of death, there would be a lot of additional trauma noted to the head and neck of the decedent. The tool used here for ligature strangulation in the present case was unique in the sense that it was a vine of a flexible but having high tensile-strength medicinal shrub ( Tinospora cordifolia ).