Blood as a Forensic Stain

Abstract

Blood is one of the most important and most frequently encountered evidence in criminal investigation. It can be formed in almost every type of criminal activity involving physical violence like murder, assaults, rape etc. Blood which constitute around one-third of the body weight, gets readily shed in all most all cases of violence forming stains. The important places for the location of blood are the scene of occurrence, the culprit, the victim the weapon of offence, the vehicle and the route taken by the culprit.

The blood stains may be in the form of splashes, smears and pools. Blood splashes can be interpreted in terms of height and their velocity. A drop of blood, striking the surface at right angles form a lesser height will give rise to symmetrical round shaped pattern. The greater the velocity of the falling drops, the greater will be the spread of the secondary spatters. If the drops strike the surface at an angle other than right angle the spatter will be asymmetrical, and the spot will assume a pear shape. The effect will be height and by greater velocity of the drops and by smaller angle of incidence.