Ligature strangulation deaths in the province of Konya (Turkey)

In the present study, deaths by ligature strangulation in the province of Konya (Turkey) were evaluated from the medicolegal point of view between 2001 and 2006. In total 2850 medicolegal death cases, 161 (5.65%) were resulted from asphyxia and 20 (12.4%) of the deaths due to asphyxia were cases of ligature strangulation. Male:female ratio of the victims was 1:1 with ages ranging from 1.5 to 70 years and a mean age of 37.22 ± 19.28 years. 17 cases (85%) were of homicidal and 3 cases (15%) of suicidal origin. The most widely used ligature material was clothesline in 6 cases (30%). On the examination of neck structures, thyroid cartilage fracture was present in 7 (35%) cases, fracture of the hyoid bone in 3 cases (15%), fracture both of the thyroid cartilage and hyoid bone in 1 case (5%), only ecchymosis in soft tissues in 7 cases (35%). In the paper, the findings determined in our cases are discussed in the light of the literature on the subject. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine.