CHANDIGARH: February 17, 2012: Everybody is aware about the value of fingerprints in solving crime cases. It is a well established fact that no two fingerprints are ever alike. This feature of the fingerprints helps the investigating agencies to identify and catch the criminals.
Now, a new research conducted by Dr Kewal Krishan of the Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh showed that the fingerprints found at the crime scene can also help in determining the sex of the criminal. He conducted this research along with his student Chitrabala as a part of MSc thesis submitted to the department. This new study will facilitate the police and other investigating officers to narrow down the investigating process in a particular case and direct the criminal investigation towards suspects belonging to the most likely sex. The research has been accepted by American Academy of Forensic Sciences and Dr Kewal Krishan will present this research in 64th Annual Conference of American Academy of Forensic Sciences to be held at Atlanta, USA from 20-25th February 2012.
The study was conducted on 194 individuals (97 males and 97 females). A total of 1940 fingerprints from all the 10 fingers of the 194 individuals were studied. All the ridges were counted in the three defined areas of a fingerprint of each individual. The study is based on the hypothesis that female fingerprints are supposed to have finer ridges than male fingerprints and therefore a greater ridge density within a given area. Using statistics, it has been found that the females have significantly higher fingerprint ridge density that that of males. These findings suggests that the finger print ridge density can be a relevant and useful parameter in determining sex of a latent fingerprint of unknown origin from the scene of crime. In the near future, Dr Krishan will be sending a major research project for funding for further confirmation of the findings of this study on a large section of population.
Dr Krishan is a renowned forensic anthropologist and published about 40 research articles in international and well acclaimed journals of forensic science. He is on the editorial board of 25 journals of repute and on the reviewer panel of 30 international journals. Dr Krishan got the inspiration and encouragement from Professor R.C. Sobti, the dynamic Vice Chancellor of Panjab University for conducting this international level research.