Exhumation, DNA typing, and social justice

Forensic work related to exhumations can be one of the most daunting as well as challenging exercise as various factors interplay to confound and confuse. Most of them are related to the effects of decomposition which causes destruction of tissues resulting in loss of valuable evidence and introduces postmortem artefacts. With regard to one of the primary autopsy objectives of personal identification the advent of DNA typing has proved to be a major tool, especially in cases where routine methods of identification are inadequate. Herein we report a case where DNA typing played a pivotal role in personal identification of the exhumed human remains with eventual administration of social justice.