Scars - Do tell tales

Ritual practices are followed worldwide by different religious groups. Some of these practices include scarring by inflicting incisional cuts on the skin surface, female circumcision during childhood, igniting camphor on palms for worshiping the God, and throwing children off a tall building with a belief that it improves health etc. We present an autopsy case, where a scar was resulted due to branding practices which is still prevailing in rural part of Southern India as a method of curing respiratory illness. The main objective of this case is to focus the autopsy surgeon, that the scars play a phenomenal role in the identification of race, cultural practices and individuality of the person, especially in unknown, decomposed individuals.