Age of Criminal Responsibility and Pisiform Bone

Abstract

introduction: Age of criminal responsibility is of importance in criminal cases such as physical and sexual assault, kidnapping, etc. Under Indian laws ages related to criminal responsibility are 5, 7, 12 and 18 years. Under 82 IPC nothing is an offence which is done by a child below 7 years of age.Objectives: To establish correlation between age of appearance of pisiform bone and age of criminal responsibility in children of Purvanchal Region.Material and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Department of Radiodiagnosis, Government Medical College and Super Facility Hospital, Azamgarh. The study population consisted of children from 0 to15 years coming to Paediatrics OPD of Government Medical College and Super Facility Hospital, Azamgarh from October 2018 to April 2019.Results:In this study the mean age of appearance of pisiform bone is 124.84±23.04 months. The youngest subject showing the appearance of pisiform bone is 7 years and 8 months old female. The oldest subject showing non appearance of pisiform bone is 12 years and 1 month old male.Conclusion:The appearance of pisiform bone in X-ray hand and wrist joint is a good indicator of 7 years and 12 years of age that are related to criminal responsibility.