Page 47 - VERITAS Vol.2 Issue 2

A COMPARISON STUDY OF

MORPHOMETRIC FEATURES OF

SCALP HAIR AMONG DIFFERENT

REGIONS OF INDIA

Veritas Volume: 2, Issue: 2, Pages:38-45
Ms. Diya Sajan John

Ms. Prathiksha R S
Mr. Jinson Jacob

Mr. Sarath A S
Ms. Suma Tehreem

INTRODUCTION

From the follicles found in our dermis, hair is a protein filament that

grows out of it. Hair is one of the most defining features of all mam-

mals. Hair is made of a tough protein called keratin. It mainly consists

of two different parts that are the follicle and the shaft. Hair is also
one of the most common biological evidence found at a crime scene,

it is accounted as a class evidence. We can easily use hair to solve the

question of who committed the crime as hair helps in individualising

a person. From the root of the hair, we can get nuclear DNA (Deoxy-

ribonucleic acid) and from the shaft of the hair, we can get mitochon-

drial DNA. We can use hair to find out the race of an individual; fo-

rensic officers differentiate between hair of caucasoids, mongoloids,
and negroids, as all of these hairs exhibit particular microscopic char-

acteristics that distinguish them from one another.

METHODOLOGY

In this study, the aim was to distinguish between the morphometric

features of hair from the different regions of India. To do this, India
was divided into six regions that included the North, South, West,

East, Central, and Northeast. 300 hair samples were collected in total

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Veritas Volume: 2, Issue: 2