Forensic Sciences
[Abbr: Acd. Jr. AJFSc]File Integrity Verifier (FIV): A Cryptographic Hash-Based Approach for Digital File Integrity Verification
by Jerald Benny
In the current digital era, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of files is a fundamental challenge in digital forensics and cybersecurity. This study presents the design and implementation of a File Integrity Verifier (FIV), a Python-based tool with an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) for verifying file integrity using multiple cryptographic hash algorithms. The tool generates both text and PDF-based reports containing hash values for individual files and can later verify the same files to detect any form of alteration or tampering. FIV employs popular hashing algorithms such as MD5, SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, BLAKE2, and SHA-3 variants. The GUI integrates light/dark themes for user convenience, while the generated reports are formatted in a readable tabular form with wrapped content for long hash strings. The experimental results confirm that any alteration in file content produces a completely different hash value, demonstrating the reliability of cryptographic hashing for integrity verification. This project emphasizes the importance of hash-based validation as an essential digital forensic process for ensuring evidence authenticity.
Influence of Fabric Type, Blood Drop Volume, and Environmental Conditions on Drying Behaviour and Morphological Characteristics of Bloodstains on Textile Substrates
by Hemanjali PB Sharma
Bloodstain drying behaviour on textiles plays a crucial role in forensic interpretation, yet systematic data on how fabric structure, environmental temperature, and blood volume jointly influence stain development remain limited. This study examined the drying times and morphological characteristics of blood droplets deposited on four common plain woven textile substrates: cotton, nylon, silk, and polyester. Three blood volumes (10 µL, 15 µL, 18 µL) were deposited using a micropipette. Experiments were conducted under three controlled environmental conditions that represented typical real-world scenarios (room temperature, 50 °C oven, 3.5–6 °C refrigeration). Each condition was performed in triplicate. Fabrics chosen were plain-woven patterns of Nylon, Polyester, Cotton and Silk (3 × 3 cm) which were suspended over open glass vials to eliminate second-surface interaction, ensuring that stain formation reflected true fabric–blood behaviour. Distinct substrate-specific morphological patterns were observed. Nylon exhibited minimal absorption, forming raised, dome-like stains. Cotton absorbed rapidly and deeply, producing fully saturated stains with later formation of a central darkened loop at warmer temperatures. Silk initially allowed lateral spread before constricting into a pooled centre depression that produced a characteristic “central loop” morphology. Polyester, despite being non-absorbent, showed partial absorption under these conditions, initially forming an elliptical translucent halo followed by a defined circular centre. Temperature significantly influenced drying time: stains dried fastest in the oven and slowest in the refrigerator, though cooler conditions produced brighter, more vivid stain colouration. These findings contribute baseline data for interpreting bloodstains on textiles where fabric type, temperature, and volume are unknown variables. Understanding these interactions strengthens the reliability of forensic bloodstain pattern analysis in crime scene reconstruction.
Drug Interactions: Mechanisms, Classification, and Clinical Significance — A Review
by Ajay Pratap Singh
Concurrent use of multiple medications is now the norm rather than the exception in modern clinical practice, driven by an ageing population, rising rates of multimorbidity, and increasingly complex treatment regimens. This growth in polypharmacy has been paralleled by a corresponding rise in drug interactions (DIs) — clinically meaningful changes in the effect of one medicine caused by the co-administration of another drug, a food, an herbal product, or a disease state. DIs are a major, and often preventable, cause of adverse drug events, ranging from subclinical shifts in drug exposure to serious toxicity, therapeutic failure, hospitalisation, and death. This narrative review synthesised current understanding of the mechanisms underlying drug interactions and the frameworks used to classify them. Interactions were examined through three overlapping classification schemes: by mechanism (pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and pharmaceutical/physicochemical), by source (drug–drug, drug–food, drug–herb, and drug–disease), and by clinical significance (severity, onset, and level of documentation). Pharmacokinetic mechanisms affecting absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion were discussed in detail, with particular attention to cytochrome P450-mediated metabolism, drug transporters, and genetic variability in these pathways. Pharmacodynamic mechanisms, patient- and drug-related risk factors, illustrative high-risk drug classes, tools for detecting and assessing interaction causality, and strategies for prevention and clinical management were also reviewed. The review concluded that a working knowledge of these mechanisms and classification frameworks is essential for anticipating, recognising, and managing drug interactions in everyday clinical and pharmaceutical practice.
Hit and Run Accident: The Mortality of an Innocent Push Hand Carter. Offender Identification Through Dent and Paint Marks. – Real Crime Scene Report
by Prof T. Nataraja Moorthy
Forensic Science not only includes laboratory analysis, but also includes crime scene investigation scientifically. It is a well-known fact that forensic science starts from the crime scene. Forensic investigators are facing challenges when they step onto the crime scene, particularly in scenes of mortality. Sometimes, the crime scene investigators are misled by the offenders through their criminal tactics, fabricating a homicidal scene as a suicidal scene and vice versa. Another challenging fatal investigation is hit-and-run road accidents, and data from the National Crime Records Bureau in India shows an upward trend in hit-and-run cases. The total number of fatalities in accident cases was 1,57,593 in 2018, while in 2022 it was 1,68,491. Physical evidence at the accident scene is the only clue that can be used to link the offender and the offence. The forensic crime scene investigator should be knowledgeable in recognising and locating transfer evidence for comparison with the suspected vehicles or persons in hit-and-run cases. The present hit-and-run case was investigated by the author during his career as a Government Forensic Crime Scene Investigator in India, wherein a push handcart was hit by an unknown vehicle on a town road in the early morning and ran away. The cart man was killed on the spot itself and the cart was badly damaged, found away from the dead body. The police registered a case under section 304(A) IPC (Hit and run), and the service of a forensic crime scene expert was requisitioned. The author visited and examined the scene of the crime, and identified the offending vehicle as a tractor through linking paint and dent marks on the tractor and handcart. The author also presented his testimony in the court and was finally sentenced by the Honourable Judge
A Review on Sex Determination from Apical Ridge Density of Fingerprint
by Molika Ojha
Dermatoglyphics is the study of epidermal ridges and is an important area applied in forensic science for person identification and gender recognition. Fingerprint ridge density is one such quantitative measure with recognised sexual dimorphism; typically, females have higher values than males. The aim and objectives of this review include examining trends of sexual dimorphism, measuring population-specific thresholds, and evaluating different methodological effects on ridge density estimation. A total of nineteen global and national scientific publications were systematically identified and shortlisted using peer-reviewed scientific databases and free-access publications. The publications were shortlisted depending on relevance, sample size, population characteristics and availability of fingerprint ridge density data. Information on fingerprinting methods conducted, finger and area-wise density values, and accuracy rates were systematically identified and reviewed to assess trends and variations. The analysis shows that the female sex has always demonstrated higher ridge density values within the population, fingers, as well as regions on the fingerprint, such as the radial, ulnar, and apex regions. Not all studies used the same threshold for ridge density; also, variations in methodologies like fingerprint type and analysis area influenced the results. The high accuracy rates shown in several studies indicate its potential for application within forensic analysis. The conclusion indicates fingerprint ridge density analysis as an accurate, non-invasive, and cost-efficient sex identification method; this emphasises the need for standardised methodologies for population-specific norms. The future scope for this analysis with larger population samples indicates it can further enhance its potential for application within forensics.